The Year Everything Changed
by OtoyanHikari
Summary: What would happen if one day, Ranmaru pushed Reiji a bit too far by calling his existence in the band pointless, and the brunette decided to go out on his own for an entire year to prove him-and the rest of Quartet Night-wrong? How will they react when they learn how much he has changed over that year and the kind of person he has now become?
1. Prologue

**Hi guys! This'll be the first fanfic I've ever uploaded, so go a bit easy on me, okay~? **

**I've been wanting to upload this for quite some time actually because of how many ideas I have in my head for later chapters, but I was always iffy about the way I started it. :I But I eventually got over it, so don't fret~,**

**And, sadly enough, even though I wish I did, I do not own the UtaPri series, Broccoli does. ;w;**

Prologue:

"I can't believe our precious little Kouhais are graduating out of the Masters Course already! Oh how I'm going to miss them!" A sad sigh left Reiji's lips, the brunette slouched back on the cloudy-white couch in the main room at Saotome Gauken, his left elbow resting on the arm of the loveseat and his chin in his palm. "I swear, it seems like just yesterday we were performing 'Poison Kiss' for them just to show them what real professionals looked like.."

Camus gave a small hum and nodded his head from his place in his white recliner, whose appearance matched the colour of the couch Reiji was seated on. "I will agree, this year certainly has gone by quicker then I expected it to."

"Tell me about it" The scoff came from Ranmaru, who was on the other end of that same couch Reiji was sitting on, an irritated look plastered clearly on his face. "But hell, I'm glad it's over. I was sick of watching over those immature teenagers."

An audible sigh could be heard come from Ai, who was seated in between his brown-haired and silver-headed band members on the lush white couch, typing away on the new, silver-coloured laptop he had bought himself a few hours before. "Ranmaru, you _do_ realize that you are not that different-age wise- from the oldest member of STARISH, correct? Jenguji and Ichinose-san are both nineteen, and you are only four years older then that." He said simply, not taking his eyes off the lit screen in his lap. "So what?" Ranmaru crossed his arms over his broad chest and jerked his head to the side, refusing to look at any of his fellow members of Quartet Night. "At least I'm not old like Reiji."

"Hey!" A whine left said brunette's lips, his mercury coloured eyes drifting to the side to look over at Ranmaru. "I'm not even that much older then you, Ran-ran!"

"You're still old."

"I am not!"

Sighs left both Ai and Camus' lips, the blonde sipping on the cup of tea he had made for himself earlier that morning and Ai simply shaking his head and going back to focusing on his laptop.

This was the typical morning for Quartet Night, there was no doubt about that. The only difference between this morning and other mornings being that they no longer had to wake up in the same rooms as they're younger-roommates, that and...well...this morning didn't end the same way as other mornings did.

How it ended up happening would always be a mystery, but literally fifteen minutes after Ranmaru insulted Reiji about his age, the two ended up getting into an argument that was worse then usual; the things they started saying to one another were a lot more...how do you say, 'insulting' then usual, and as time went on, the two only ended up escalated from talking, to yelling at each other.

And you know how when people argue, they tend to get away from what they were _actually_ arguing about, and end up spitting nonsense at one another that has /nothing/ to do with the actual argument-starter?

That happened in a matter of minutes.

"I'm as important to this band as you, Ran-ran!" Reiji had lost his cool minutes before, his normal childish and calm exterior changing to a more serious and mature one, a frown replacing his normal, goofy smile. "But you're no where /near/ as important to this band as I am Reiji; so what are you? Kidding yourself? Come on, you wouldn't even be able to last without me, Camus, and Ai always staying on your ass."

The way Ranmaru said this so easily and without hesitation made Reiji's eyebrow twitch. "I could to! I could make a living on my own if I wanted to!" He said, abruptly standing up from his place on the couch to glare daggers over towards Ranmaru, who looked up at him and made an arrogant noise in the back of his throat. "You could not. You'd be like a lost child in a store if you ever tried going solo."

Reji let his fingers curl into fists at his sides; he couldn't believe Ranmaru could say something so horrible to him. Sure, he knew the silver-head hated being in groups, but he never thought he would ever call him-...useless to their own band! "I-i would not! I could become more famous then Quartet Night if I tried hard enough!"

"Then why are you still here?"

That must've broke the brunette's last restraint, because he jerked his head away and snatched his jacket up from its place hanging on the back of the couch.

This movement most definitely got Ai and Camus' attention finally as well, because the blue-haired idol looked from his laptop and the blonde let his eyebrows knit together. "Reiji-..?"

"No, Ran-ran is right for once! I /shouldn't/ still be here, I should be out on my own showing his arrogant butt up!" Reiji said with an uncharacteristic scoff, pulling on the forestry green coat. "Reiji, you wont last a week by yourself.." Camus slowly and calmly said, a frown forming on his lips as he set his half-empty cup of tea back down.

Reiji didn't listen and simply kept his lips sealed shut, his fingers sliding up his stomach and chest as he buttoned up the comfortable coat he had slipped on. Though, after a few more moments of the eerie silence filling the room, Reiji held up his index finger for all of his fellow band members to see. "A year; a single year. I'm going to show you all that I willingly joined Quartet Night and that I could be fine out on my own if I ever needed to be. After a year, you're going to see just how wrong you are about me." He let a sickly sweet smile form on his lips, his hands easing into his jacket pocket. "And after that year is up, if I haven't done anything productive with my life, I'll come back and let Ran-ran rub it in my face and I'll even let him continue to step all over me like he does now."

"Reiji, so you're telling us-...you're leaving the band...?" Camus figured that Ranmaru wouldn't bother to ask the question, and he knew Ai normally chose to stay quiet, so he let himself be the one to ask it. "Hmm...I guess we could just say that...but I only plan it to be temporary." Letting out a small chuckle, Reiji spun on his heels and gracefully crossed the room, opening up the building's front door. "Unless of course-.." He turned his head a bit to let his silver eyes meet with Ranmaru's heterochromatic ones from across the room, the breeze from outside blowing through his chocolate brown locks. "-..._someone_ doesn't want me to come back."

Stepping out of the room and into the outside world, Reiji closed the door behind him, looking ahead of himself and letting out a deep breath he never knew he had been holding. He tilted his chin up, squinting his eyes at the bright rays of sun that painted his vision.

_One year...and then I'll come back to my friends._

**And this is where the Prologue ends! A time skip will be in order for the next chapter~.**

**Reviews are welcomed! :3 **


	2. Chapter 1

**Ah, it took longer then I expected to write this chapter and I have no idea why... .-.**

**Anyway, I do not own UtaPri and I also do not out the Fall Out Boys. They own themselves. xD**

Chapter 1:

"Mr. Kotobuki-san!"

Orbs of bright silver looked up towards the dressing room door when the womanly voice spoke from the other side. "You will be needed out on set in exactly five minutes! Be out and ready to go by then."

A sigh came as a response to the command, soon followed by a small, "M'kay" that was practically grumbled under the subject's breath. Once the sound of footsteps faded away, the brown-haired idol let himself slouch back in the leathery chair placed in the center of his dressing room, lazily tossing the phone in his hands off to the side. The device landed on a low-standing wooden dresser that had a large standing mirror attached to it. "Ughhhhh" A long groan left his lips as he forced himself to stand up, stretching his arms out in front of him. Once his stiff muscles finally relaxed, he let out a long sigh and pressed his palms against the dresser, his head tilting to the side a bit as he looked at himself in the mirror.

_To think, three-hundred and sixty days are already up...only five more to go until the new year starts._

The softest of chuckles left Reiji's lips, his bright, mercury-coloured eyes falling half lidded; he couldn't _believe_ how quickly the year had gone by. It had almost been a full twelve months since he first left Quartet Night, and now that he thought about it, that was quite a long time to go without seeing his closest of friends. [Who, to add, probably hated his guts now.]

After announcing his leave from Quartet Night to the media, within three months of being out on his own, Reiji already had multiple different recording companies call and request him be a part of their organizations. Of course though, he could only pick one to join, so he chose the seemingly most interesting one that went by the name "Radioactive Stars", which he had been with for officially ten consecutive months now. Working for this company had brought the twenty-five year old wealth, a fanbase of his own, and an amount of fame he could've never experienced by being with three other, beautifully voiced teens like he had been.

As much fun as that sounded though, every good thing comes with disadvantages. The year had also been incredibly stressful for him because of how much he had to handle on his own now. Along with that, the long time he had away from his friends had changed him considerably.

At first, after joining Radioactive Stars, Reiji had kept performing and showing-off like his normal self with that bright, loveable little smile of his and his warm, to-die-for personality. Sadly enough to say though, as the stress started to get to him and the fame gradually went to his head, all of that changed; he still had that handsome smile and gentlemanly personality, but neither of those aspects ever showed much anymore. In fact, Reiji had started being more snappy when it came to talking to other people and his ego had skyrocketed through the roof by the sixth month of being with his new company. Even the way he _dressed_ changed, for his outfits stopped being as bright and colourful and became more skin-tight and provocative as time went on.

_Ah...this'll be the last performance of the day...at least after this I can go home and get some damn sleep._ Reiji thought with another deep sigh, letting his eyes skim their way down the mirror and over the reflection of the outfit he had on, simply to make sure everything had been put on correctly: a black tee clung to his torso, the leathery jacket over his arms matching in colour, much like the skinny jeans he was wearing. The studded belt that went around his hips was checkered white and black, and the multiple arm bands adorning his wrist had much the same design. The boots that were covering his feet were attached with little chains that would jingle and hit against his heel when he walked.

A small smirk slowly formed on Reiji's lips, his fingers skimming across the dresser until they grazed over a piece of silver string, in which he then used to tie his hair back. He had long ago noticed that the wavy brown locks had grown longer, now just a few centimeters away from being as long as Camus' hair had been the last time he saw him, but to be honest, he really liked the way the dark-coloured locks flowed over his shoulders, so he didn't bother cutting it.

_"Kotobuki-san!"_ Just _when_ his assistant had shown back up at the door would always be a mystery, but Reiji _did _know that the fact that she continued to pester him about getting out on set was becoming incredibly annoying. "I'm coming, god dammit! Stop rushing me!" He snapped the woman, who he couldn't see flinch from the other side of the door. "Jeez..." He snatched up his phone from the dresser and shoved it in his back pocket, an irritated look clear on his handsome face. He then turned and made his way across the room, flicking off the lights just before he threw open the door.

His said-to-be 'assistant' was a pale woman obviously quite a few years younger then him with strawberry blond hair that she kept tied back in a messy bun. Her eyes were a lavender purple the gleamed in the light and her curvy figure showed that she watched over her weight.

She wore a silky white dress that fluffed out at the bottom slightly and a white collar covered with jewels was wrapped around her neck while white, open-toed heels were on her feet. "Sixty-seconds until the commercial break ends; you /need/ to get out there and set up. /Now/." She spoke in a firm tone that held no room for complaint or questions, and when she turned and strode off down the hallway, all Reiji could do was mutter under his breath and trail after her.

_"Thirty seconds people! Thirty seconds!"_

Sets for on-going shows weren't anything knew to Reiji, he was actually quite used to them by now, but to be honest, he actually enjoyed guest starring on talk-shows then he did performing actual concerts. He never really knew the reason why though. Maybe it was because he didn't have to do as much work with getting everything set up before hand. With concerts, he normally had to have specific costumes for each song, a special kind of hair-style, make-up, ect ect, and here he was, allowed to dress how he pleased with his hair completely natural and the only source of artificial painting on his face being the black eyeliner that brought out the colour of his eyes.

Shaking his head to keep himself focused, Reiji jumped up on the set stage with the rest of his band, adjusting the ear-piece his assistant had clipped on his right ear moments before and blinking his eyes to adjust to the blue and purple lights that were blaring down at the group from above.

"Hey, Nezumi! My mic, hand it to me."

The green-haired boy who must've been 'Nazumi' turned around from where he had been talking to the golden-haired teen seated behind a platinum-coloured drum set, his naturally ruffled blond hair streaked red in multiple different places. "There you are! We were starting to get all freaked out thinkin' you weren't gonna' show." Nezumi said, the blonde he had previously been speaking to reaching behind his drum-set to hand a purple and white-stripped microphone to him. "As if; where's Hirakou?" Reiji asked, taking the microphone from Nezumi.

"Here~!"

Reiji turned back around, being met with the sight of a girl so obviously taller then him, whose jet black hair reached down to her mid-back. "Sorry, I was busy talking to my agent."

_"Fifteen seconds people!"_

"More like sweet-talking him."

"Rei-kun's probably right about that."

Hirakou's neon green eyes rolled and she gripped the neck of her grey guitar with her right hand, the fingers of her left just gently grazing over the strings softly enough so that she could hear herself play. "You guys say I flirt with every guy I know, but I don't flirt with _you _guys, now do I?"

_"Ten seconds!"_

"Well, you were all flirtatious with Rei-kun a few months back." The blond-haired drummer blankly said, spinning the wooden sticks in his hands around. "Well that's because-"

"I'm hot?" Reiji smirked, taking a few steps forward to push his mic into its holder on the mic stand. He looked up as he did this, letting his eyes skim over the huge crowd of people in the studio itself.

Hirakou awkwardly coughed at his question and slid off to the side a bit so that she was behind the brunette on his right side. "I never said that..."

"C'mon, Hirakou. If _I_ can admit that I think Rei-kun is gorgeous, then you should be able to. For gods sakes, I'm a guy, this kind of this should be extremely awkward for me." Nezumi said, reaching down with one hand to pick up his own bass guitar from its place on its stand, slinging the strap on over his shoulder. The instrument was black with yellow paint splotches all over it.

_"Five seconds-!"_

"Well you're all flamboyant about your bi-sexuality. Nothing is surprising coming from you anymore." Hirakou countered, the blonde behind the drums laughing.

_"Four; Three-!"_

"That couldn't be anymore true." Said blonde laughed, gripping his drum sticks and setting the tips of them on two different drums, showing that he was ready to start at any given moment.

_"Two-!"_

"Even though I should be offended by that, I can't help but agree with it." Nezumi said with a light laugh of his own, sliding over so that he was behind Reiji on his left side and completely opposite from Hirakou.

_"One-!"_

"Well, it is true." Reiji fully agreed, raising both of his hands so that one was gripping his mic and the other was gripping the stand, a short breath passing his lips to blow a few strands of brown hair out of his eyes.

_"And we're on!"_

The sound of an electric guitar accompanied by bass and drums quickly followed the call.

_"Put on your war paint."_

When Reiji opened his mouth and sang that first line, the crowd in front of the stage started screaming like fans at a typical concert would, most of the shouts coming from girls, which was to be expected, but quite a few coming from the men as well as they all pushed themselves closer to the stage.

_Here goes._

_"You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down_

_Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground_

_We are the jack-o-lanterns in July_

_Setting fire to the sky_

_Here, here comes this rising tide_

_So come on_

_Put on your war paint!_

_Cross walks and crossed hearts and hope-to-dies_

_Silver clouds with grey linings_

_So we can take the world back from a heart attack_

_One maniac at a time we will take it back_

_You know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start_

_So dance alone to the beat of your heart-"_

"Ranmaru, Ai, come here!"

Camus-who was sitting in the recliner he had pushed to be in front of the T.V-called, his eyes fixated on the large screen.

A groan soon filled the room as Ranmaru came shuffling in, his silver-locks tousled and messy, showing he must've been sleeping when he had been called.

Ai trailed behind him, his laptop under his left arm and his bright blue hair pulled out of its usual ponytail, leaving the soft, shiny blue locks to cascade over his shoulders like an icy waterfall. "What is it?" He asked, making his way over to stand on one side of Camus' chair, Ranmaru yawning and doing the same, only leaning against the other side instead. "Look." The sitting blonde pointed at the screen, Ranmaru and Ai's eyes following in that direction until they landed on the T.V. screen itself.

_"-Hey young blood_

_Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?_

_I'm gonna change you like a remix_

_Then I'll raise you like a phoenix_

_Wearing our vintage misery_

_No, I think it looked a little better on me_

_I'm gonna change you like a remix_

_Then I'll raise you like a phoenix-"_

Reiji had abandoned his mic stand and had pulled the microphone from its holder so that he could make his way to the edge of the stage, leaning down at that same time and letting his fingers grazed over the hands of his fans, who in turn, only screamed louder.

_"-Bring home the boys and scrap scrap metal the tanks_

_Get hitched, make a career out of robbing banks_

_Because the world is just a teller and we are wearing black masks_

_"You broke our spirit," says the note we pass_

_Put on your war paint!_

_The war is won_

_Before it's begun_

_Release the doves_

_Surrender love!"_

"Is that...Reiji...?" Ai was the first one to speak up, his eyebrows knitted together. "Jesus fucking christ, there's no way..." Ranmaru breathed, finding himself not able to take his eyes off the screen.

Was it.../weird/ that he suddenly found Reiji _incredibly _attractive...? It was...rather odd to be honest...Ranmaru was into things like black, leather, and the whole 'bad boy' get-up, so it must've been because the look worked _really _damn well for Reiji that he liked it so much. [Not that he would ever say that out loud.] "Guess we found out what happens when one of us goes solo..." Camus grumbled, setting the remote down in his lap and folding his arms over his chest, a frown on his lips as he continued to watch his old friend perform. "Is this what he's been doing ever since he left?"

"I guess that's what we can assume." Ai said.

Quartet Night hadn't been able to keep up with Reiji over the course of the year because they had been busy themselves, that and they /really/ hadn't expected to see much of their brown-haired friend, especially something like _this_. "He surely has changed..." Camus said, tipping his head back to look up at Ranmaru and Ai. "Is he the reason we've been having such a slow year? I remember hearing about a new prodigy, but I never expected it to be Reiji."

"Guess we got our asses handed to us." Ai said simply, letting his own attention drift away from the T.V and over to Ranmaru. "And more so Ranmaru over me and you, Camus."

"Hey, shut up." Ranmaru snapped at his blue-haired band member, glad that he had a reason to tear his attention away from the T.V. "What's even worse is that-since it seems he's the reason business for us has been so slow lately-he's growing even more popular then Quartet Night."

Camus nodded in agreement. "Yes. That's what I thinking. That, and I think _someone_ owes Reiji an apology-"

"No way am I apologizing to that brat. He ran off because of a simple insult. Plus, with fame like that, what makes you think he'll even /want/ to come back?" Ranmaru asked, earning himself a sigh from Camus. "He's Reiji, Ranmaru. All he ever asks for is an apology, along with that, you and I both know he goes to total extremes to get what he wants. Like he has done now."

"I also assume he wants not only the apology from Ranmaru, but for him to say that he was as important to the band as the rest of us." Ai added in, Camus nodding in agreement. "Yes, I thought that as well..."

"Well where the fuck would we even find him?"

_"That was an outstanding performance, Mister Kotobuki!"_

Ranmaru, Ai and Camus all looked back up at the T.V when the host of the show spoke, meaning that the song must've already ended. She had climbed up on the stage and made her way to Reiji's side. "That wasn't the song we expected you to sing though, so what made you choose that one specifically?"

Reiji blinked his bright silver eyes, a slight, surprisingly cute tilt coming to his head. "Oh, that? Tomorrow's my twenty-second birthday, and as an early present, the band let me pick what song we performed~."

"Oh really now? I didn't know your birthday was coming up anytime soon; what are you planning on doing for it?"

"Eh, nothing big." Reiji shrugged. "I'm just going to hang out at the arcade in Tokyo for most of the day. That and I'm hosting a DDR tournament."

Screams of joy came from the crowd of fans, which brought forth a grin from the brunette.

Camus gestured to the screen, looking up at Ranmaru with a face that just screamed, _'Obvious enough for ya'?'_

"I think at the arcade in Tokyo tomorrow."

"Shut it." Ranmaru snapped, letting out a sigh. "If I go and apologize to the guy tomorrow and get him to come back, will you get the fuck off my back?"

Ai and Camus both replied in unison. "Yes."

* * *

"Oh fuck off, tomorrow's my day off, Yumi." Reiji said into the blue-tooth he had taken out of his ear as he quietly slipped out the back door of the building, the hood of his leather jacket pulled up and over his head; he had said his goodbyes to the rest of his band members minutes before, and to keep himself from being followed and mobbed by fans, he had gone out the back way and just planned on walking home. He didn't even really mind if it it was cloudy and a bit cold outside.

_"But Reiji-"_

"No means no. I'm relaxing tomorrow."

Reiji tossed the ear-piece over his shoulder and proceeded to close the metal door behind himself, making his way down a small set of stairs. He could hear the communication device hit the ground somewhere behind the door, but he didn't bother to go back and check and see if it was still intact.

...That's when he heard sniffles.

_'What the-...' _That sounded like someone crying...but the back door had lead him into an abandoned alleyway behind the studio, so who would be back here?

Reiji stopped to let himself turn to look around, the cracked, granite walls of the alley surrounding him on both sides, and it wasn't until he set his sights on the trembling dark figure at the back of the alleyway that he realized he _really_ wasn't alone. "Hello...?" He spoke in a defensive tone, slowly making his way over to the huddled up figured and letting a sigh pass his lips when he got close enough to see that it was only a little girl.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, kneeling down beside the girl and reaching out let his thumb brush over her plump but dirtied cheek; the child must've been five at max, her little cheeks covered in dirt and her soft looking, blonde hair matted with mud. Her little pink blouse looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks and her feet were bare.

Really, the only thing that still looked clean was the bright pink bow in her little fists. "I-i-i-..." The little girl's voice trembled and Reiji felt his eyes slowly softening the more he looked at her. He couldn't be snappy at such a frightened, small little girl, no matter how hard he tried.

"I wont hurt you..." He said gently, the child's watery eyes looking up at him; he noticed that her eyes were a bright blue. "I just want to know why you're out here all by yourself..."

"I-i...m-momma' a-and dadda' a-and s-sissies and b-bubbies gone..." With the girl being so young, Reiji wasn't shocked with how hard speaking properly must've been for her. "You're mommy is gone?" He softly asked, the little girl nodding. "Ah...I see..." He offered the child a small smile. "So you really are all alone..."

Reiji had learned quite some time ago that being by yourself was not fun. Deep down, he really missed the rest of Quartet Night, so he understood how this young girl must've felt. "Well, my name is Reiji, and I pinky promise you I'm really nice and I wont hurt you." He extended his pinky out to the little girl, who slowly blinked and let her tiny, trembling hand reach up, her pinky wrapping around Reiji's, whose was much bigger in size. "Can you tell me your name, dear...?"

"T-twis..."

"Tris?"

The child gave a short nod.

"Well, Tris, would you like to come with me? I can take care of you, I live alone anyway...Plus, tomorrow I'm gonna' have a super fun day! I'm gonna' go play games with my friends and we're gonna' have lots of fun." He was speaking in a child-like way to make the girl more comfortable, and he nearly sighed in relief when Tris' rounded eyes lit up. "G-games? T-twis w-wike games!" She opened her little arms and Reiji took that as a sign to pick her up, shifting to hold her up with his right arm. "Well I'm glad, then how about you come with me to play games tomorrow?"

Tris clapped her little hands together, a happy look clear on her face. "Yes, yes!"

Reiji let out a small chuckle, smiling at the little girl before beginning to walk out of the alleyway and off down the street.

He didn't know why he had felt had felt so lonely in the first place, especially when he had a new band and great friends he had bonded with over the months, but now...for some odd reason...Reiji didn't feel so alone anymore.

**This is where this chapter ends~.**

**The song that Reiji performed was titled "The Phoenix" and it's by the Fall Out Boys, the band I mentioned before the chapter started.**

**Reviews are welcomed~. :3**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! This'll be chapter two! But I'm just gonna' take a few moments to voice my appreciation for all of the reviews. The fact that you all like my fanfic makes me really happy on the inside and brings a bright smile to my face. :3 So thank you!**

**Once again, I do not own UtaPri.**

Chapter two:

"Weiji! Weiji, wake up!" A small body was jumping up and down on a queen-sized bed covered with satin white sheets, little blonde pigtails bouncing along with the movement. "Nggh...no..." The main sheet moved to cover up a mess of tangled brown hair, showing that the figure beneath them didn't want to come out. "Da' sun is up! Time to wakey-wakey!"

"No...I'm still tired." Reiji groaned from under the sheets, his voice slightly muffled.

This obviously wasn't going to sit with Tris because she jumped up once again and threw herself forward, landing right on her buried friend's stomach.

"ACK!"

* * *

"Weiji! Weiji, Twis hungry!"

"No, I fed you like ten minutes ago, Tris. You have to wait."

"No! Twis is hungry!" A small foot stomped on the ground, a whine filling the living room as Tris pulled on Reiji's pant leg, the much bigger male sitting back on the couch. "Tris, you ate like an entire box of Twinkies _ten minutes ago._ You should be fine for a few hours." Reiji said, not being able to help the slight irritation that filled his voice.

He certainly _had _taking a liking to this small child last night, especially when she had told him more about herself, like where she was from and what-not, but this morning with her hadn't been _nearly _as sweet as last night had been. If you wanted the truth, so far, this morning had been absolute _**HELL.**_

"But I gon' die if I dun' eat!"

"Tris! You'll make yourself sick! No food right now!"

It was barely even seven-thirty in the morning and Reiji hadn't gotten enough sleep, you couldn't blame him for raising his voice like he had. Though he most certainly regretted it a few seconds later when Tris started sniffling, her big round eyes beginning to water. "I-i...I-i j-just h-hungry..."

"Woah, what-?! No! D-don't cry!" Reiji frantically waved his hands around, panic clear in his voice. "W-weiji w-wont feed me..."

"I'll feed you again! I promise! Just don't cry!"

Reiji sighed in relief when that happy look from before returned to Tris' face and she clapped her hands together, bouncing a bit. "Yay!"

* * *

"Ranmaru, it is time to wake up."

"No...fuck off..."

"Ranmaru-"

"No means no, Camus. Plus I'm still tire-GAH!"

A rather high-pitched squeal filled the room when cold water was poured from a bucket and onto the lump of sheets on the bed, the male hidden underneath them automatically fighting to get out from under them and onto his feet, his clothes and hair soaking wet. "There. Now you shouldn't be tired."

Ranmaru let himself glare at the blonde standing before him, his now empty bucket tucked under one arm. "You're not slacking off today. This may be our one and only chance to get our fellow band member back."

"Yeah well sleep is more important..." The silver-head grumbled, Camus lifting the bucket once again to smack Ranmaru in the face with it. "What was that?" He asked, his voice low and threatening, just _begging_ for Ranmaru to go against him. "Nothing, nothing...jeez...damn prick."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing your oh-so-great-and-powerful."

"That's what I thought." With a huff, Camus turned and walked his way back out of the room, calling back, "Be on your way to Tokyo in ten minutes" before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

"Alright, we'll go clothes shopping for you later, so until then, you'll just have to wear that, okay?"

Bright round, silver-eyes slowly blinked before Tris gave a nod in understanding; she had on a little yellow sundress and cloudy white sandals, the pink ribbon she had been clinging to yesterday laced around her small wrist like a bracelate. "Okay, good, now go and watch T.V while I get dressed." Reiji said.

"Okay~! Yay! T.V time!"

* * *

"Blaming me for this, god..." Little rants were being mumbled under Ranmaru's breath as he pulled on his favourite pair of back fingerless gloves; he had dressed himself in a pair of dark navy blue jeans and a gray T-shirt that clung to his torso and showed off his well-defined stomach and muscled chest. On his wrists were multiple different arm-bands that were similar to the ones he had seen Reiji wear the day before while performing.

* * *

"Weiji!"

"I'm getting dressed Tris, keep watching T.V."

"Weijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"I told you I was getting dressed, be patient."

"Weijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"God dammit, **WHAT?!"**

"The T.V. wont turn on!"

A groan filled the brunette's bedroom. "_Oh forget it_, just come back in here!"

"Okay!"

A few seconds later, Tris came skipping back into Reiji's room, her innocent little eyes slowly drifting upward when she caught sight of her rescuer.

Reiji had pulled on a pair of dark green skinny jeans, a black tee that was a bit too big for him covering his upper half and white sleeves clinging to his arms. He had been in the middle of tying his soft brown hair up with a black hair tie when the small child came scurrying in. "Pweety..."

"Eh?" Reiji looked down at the little girl in surprise, clipping his bangs to the side with a white pin that had a treble-cleff attached to it after successfully pulling his hair back. "Pweety!" Tris repeated again with more enthusiasm, a bright smile on her plump lips. "Are you talking about me?"

Tris gave a small nod, Reiji blinking in shock. "Oh...well thank you. I try~." He hummed a bit in appreciation, reaching down to scoop up the little girl, who broke out into a giggling fit when he started swinging her around in circles. "You ready to go play at the arcade~?!"

"Yes, yes!" Tris squealed in happiness, Reiji not being able to help but chuckle a bit himself. "Then let's get going~."

* * *

_"We'll give it a shot!_

_WOOAH!_

_We're halfway there!_

_OHHH!_

_Livin' on a prayer!"_

After being only a few streets away from the arcade, Reiji had grown bored and just broke out into song, purposefully singing like complete and utter crap as he strode his way down the sidewalk, Tris' little hand holding onto one of his own.

He had been smart enough to pull his jacket hood up and put a pair of shades on over his eyes, making himself unrecognizable by any fellow walkers. He also knew doing as he was would more then likely attract unwanted attention, but that was totally the point.

_"Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear_

_WOOAH!_

_Livin on a prayer!"_

He made himself louder and had to resist the urge to laugh when bystanders flashed him and Tris irritated, dirty looks.

He didn't close his mouth either until him and Tris had reached the arcade, the double doors of the building opening up and revealing a huge assortment of games that were all bright with life, Reiji grinning at the sight and pushing his hood down, sliding the sunglasses off his face so he could see better. "Uwahh!" Tris stared around in awe, not being able to see as much as she wanted because of how many people were already there at the establishment, blocking her view.

_"Oh, he's here!"_

_"Guys, it's Reiji!"_

_"Oh my god, I want a picture!"_

_"I want a kiss!"_

Reiji blinked, completely forgetting that he had given away where he would be today on **NATIONAL T.V**.

...

Well shit. This would definitely be a problem.

* * *

By the time Ranmaru reached the arcade, he was in an even _worse_ mood then he had been before.

Everytime he checked his phone he had up to five messages from the _one_ guy in all of Japan he wished were dead.

His name was Saiko. Yes, _Saiko_, pronounced as _psycho_. He was this drummer guy from the previous band Ranmaru had been a part of, and he was _also _the reason the band broke up in the first place; all he ever wanted to do was "go out and get some ass", as he had once said, and was more preoccupied with drinking and dragging girls home from clubs then he was with the band itself.

For some odd reason though, one day he brought home some slutty bimbo and had declared his leave from the band for no apparent reason, and since then the band was unstable without its lead drummer and fell apart days later.

This event had occurred years ago, and no one from that band ever spoke again, yet for some god unknown reason, Saiko had started spamming the silver-head's phone with voice-mails and text-messages intended to taunt him, and just _where_ he had gained access to Ranmaru's contact information would always be a mystery.

"God dammit, why can't I block you?!" Ranmaru irritably grumbled, repeatedly pressing the BLOCK NUMBER button on his phone and getting the same THIS NUMBER CAN NOT BE BLOCKED pop up window each time.

[Aww, Ran-ran, I bet you've been trying to block me, haven't you~?

-Saiko-sama]

Ranmaru's eyebrow twitched when he read over the message. He already used to deal with Reiji calling him by that annoying ass nickname, there was _no way _he was dealing with it again.

[Shut the fuck up and leave me alone.

-Kurosaki]

[Is someone a little grumpy because he's not mister-famous-all-star anymore~?

-Saiko-sama]

[I will personally find you and kill you if you don't stop texting me.

-Kurosaki]

"Hmm?" A mess of blond and red hair tilted to that side when blue-eyes scanned over the small screen, reading over the threat. 'Oh Ran-ran, you've always been so cute when you're mad.' Hurrying to type back, [Ah, I would LOVE that dear~. It'd be nice to see that handsome face of yours again after so long! -Saiko-sama] the blonde chuckled to himself, looking up from his place in his chair when a voice called out to him, "Saiko! Come on! Come play a round of DDR with me!"

Smirking, Saiko called back, "Coming, Rei-chan~!" and slipped his phone back into the front pocket of his jeans, ignoring it when it vibrated and getting up to make his way across the arcade, towards the brunette that had called out to him.

**And that's where the chapter ends~. Oh, and don't fret about the cliff hanger, chapter three is already almost done, so it'll be posted pretty soon. Maybe even before I go to bed~.  
**

**Reviews are welcomed~. :3**


	4. Chapter 3

**Okay, well I was supposed to have this up a LONG, **_**LONG **_**time ago, and I'm really sorry that I didn't. D: I've just been really busy and what-not, but, I finally got it up, so don't worry. :D  
**

**I do not own UtaPri or the Fall Out Boys.**

Chapter three:

_When Rome's in ruins, we are the lions_

_Free of the coliseums_

_In poison places, we are anti-venom_

_We're the beginning of the end_

_Tonight the foxes hunt the hounds_

_It's all over now before it has begun_

_We've already won_

_We are wild, we are like young volcanoes!_

_We are wild, Americana, exotica!_

_Do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby! Yeah!_

A mixture of screams, squeals, and laughs filled the arcade, a large huddle of people crowded around a DDR machine, where two pairs of feet stomped and pressed down on the lit arrows on the metal floor.

_Come on make it easy, say I never mattered_

_Run it up the flagpole_

_We will teach you how to make boys next door_

_Out of assholes_

_Tonight the foxes hunt the hounds_

_It's all over now before it has begun_

_We've already won_

_We are wild, we are like young volcanoes_

_We are wild, Americana, exotica_

_Do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby?_

_Yeah!_

"You asshole! You totally cheated!" A playful shout came from Saiko once the song had faded out and ended, a laughing Reiji standing off to his left side. "No way! You can't cheat at DDR!"

"Knowing you, you would find a way!"

"That's offensive-Hey! Hey! Let me go!"

The girls in the crowd around the game machine broke out into squealing fits when the blonde grabbed Reiji from under his arms and slung him over his shoulder. "Put me down, dammit!"

"Nope~."

"Saiko!" The brunette was playfully struggling in his friend's arms, an obviously happy look on his face as he flailed his arms around.

Reiji hated to admit it, but he had _really _taken a liking to Saiko. Maybe it was because of how handsome the blonde was, or maybe just because of how close they had grown...he honestly didn't know. "Saikoooooo! I'm getting dizzy!" He exclaimed after Saiko had started spinning him around, the blonde chuckling a bit before carefully setting him back down on his feet, having to steady him before he toppled over. "I'm not used to hearing you all giggly~. You're normally all snappy and stuff."

Reiji blinked, that smile from before getting wiped clear off his face as he snapped, "Shut up. I don't _giggle _and don't say I do, you ass."

"And there it is."

Saiko chuckled, turning to look at the mob of people surrounding his and Reiji's game. "So which one of you lovely fans would like to play next~?"

_"Oh, oh me!"_

_"No, pick me!"_

_"I wanna' play with Reiji!"_

"Alright then, how about you, in the-"

_"Hey, where did he go?!"_

_"Yeah, where did Reiji go?!"_

Saiko blinked in surprise when he heard a few girls in the crowd begin to get all demanding and irritable, his bright blue eyes drifting off to his side, where Reiji _should've _been. "What the-...where the hell did he go?"

* * *

"Hey! Let me go you asshole!"

Pale fingers had wrapped around Reiji's wrist and yanked him away from his game when Saiko had gotten the crowd distracted.

Said brunette was forced to follow after the stranger. [It just would've been nice if he didn't have his back to him and he didn't gave a grey hood covering his head.] "God dammit, let go!"

"Not a chance."

Reiji couldn't help but blink when he was spoken to.

_That voice...that voice sounds really familiar..._

The stranger didn't release Reiji until they had made it all the way down the empty hallway at the back of the building, which was decorated with shiny brown wood walls, unlike the actually _arcade_ area, which was filled with so much colour and carpet that it could give any sensitive sighted person a seizure. "What the hell was that about?!" The brunette demanded, a sigh coming from the man in front of him before he turned around and pulled his hood down.

Silver eyes widened and Reiji's breath hitched at the sight of those heterochromatic orbs and that silver-hair he had seen many times in his life. "Ran-ran...?" He couldn't help the shock that filled his voice.

"You-...you idiot! What the hell are you doing hanging around that guy?!" Ranmaru didn't even bother to start with greetings, he was getting right down to the point. "Excuse me?" Reiji's eyes slowly narrowed. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

This time, it was Ranmaru's turn to be shocked. He had _not_ expected to hear such vulgar language come from his ex-band member, but he quickly shook the sudden surprise off and continued, "Saiko! Why the hell are you hanging around him?!"

"He's my friend, of _course _I'm going to-..." Reiji cut himself off, looking up at the silver-head and meeting his eyes. "Wait...how the hell do you know Saiko?"

"Saiko? You mean that psychopath that you let put his hands on you? Saiko? That asshole you seem to have made such good friends with? The psychotic man-whore that gets pleasure out of screwing around with others? _THAT_ Saiko?" Ranmaru's voice quickly turned low and manacing as he took a few steps forward, backing the brunette up against the wall. "That son of a bitch reuined my last band by fucking a bunch of whores and losing sight of what real music is."

Reiji didn't offer much of a reaction, even when he found himself trapped between the wall and Ranmaru. "Saiko's not like that." He said. "Yes, he is. That's just _who _he is. What, has he been playing all 'mister nice guy' with you?"

"He hasn't been 'playing' anything. It's a shame you seem to be stuck on such a stupid and idiotic assumption, Ran-Ran, but sorry, Saiko is _**nothing **_like you."

It took a few moments for the silver-head to comprehend what the brunette had just said to him, but when he did, he hissed, taking a hold of Reiji's wrists and pinning them to the wall beside his head. "You listen here Reiji and you better listen well; that guy is a complete and utter player. Understand? He toys with other people for sex. If he's being nice to you, he's obviously doing it to get in your head." He said in a low, dangerous tone.

"Didn't I just tell you, he's not like that!" Reiji claimed, stiffening when Ranmaru's body pressed more firmly against his own, keeping him held in place. "Dammit, let me go!"

"Not until you listen!"

"_Why do you seem to care so much anyway?!_ I left out on my own for an entire year and you didn't care then! Why now?!"

That took the silver-head a back.

"I-..." He frowned._ Why was he bothering with this? _"That's right...you don't care. Now let me go you ass."

Ranmaru grunted but actually did as he was told, releasing the brunette and backing away from him. "Fine. Get your ass raped. See if I care." He scoffed, Reiji rubbing his reddened wrists. "Saiko doesn't look at me like that, so you can fuck right off."  
Reiji turned to leave, but was stopped when his arm was grabbed. "For the love of god, _what?!"_

"That whole DDR tournament...What happens if someone beats you?"

Reiji turned his head a bit to glance at the silver-head. "...They win an entire day with me..." He said slowly. "Why?"

Ranmaru slowly released his arm, looking away and crossing his arms over his chest. "I came here for a reason ya'know."

"And what was that reason? To terrorize the drummer of my band?"

"No, but I'll tell you when I beat your ass in DDR."

* * *

"...I hate you. I hate you so much right now."

An obviously irritated Reiji was glaring over at a smirking Ranmaru, who had his arms folded behind his head. "Told ya' I would beat you. Now don't be a sore loser."

"I don't want to spend an entire day with the likes of you."

"You're not such a walk in the park now either." Glares that were sharp enough to cut through the atmosphere were exchanged until a patch of blonde and red hair jumped up onto the game and hugged Reiji from behind. "Ran-Ran, I didn't know you were the one that was playing with my Rei-chan~! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Saiko said with a sickly sweet smile, Ranmaru's eye twitching and his mood growing more and more sour when Reiji only sighed and leaned back into the blonde's hold. "Oh save it." He scoffed.

"What~? Are you still Mister Grumpy Puss today~?"

"Shut up. Only because you-"

"I've done nothing wrong and I've done nothing to provoke you being so angry with me~." Saiko hummed, looking down when Reiji looked up at him. "Ran-Ran said you ruined his last band and were fucking around with prostitutes..."

"Oh, did he~? Why, I would never do such a thing!" The blonde gasped, giving off a believable, shocked look. "Why would I ever degrade my manliness in such a way?"

"That's what I thought." Reiji said with a sigh, prying himself from Saiko's arms and turning his attention back to Ranmaru. "You better have one hell of a day planned or the deal's off."

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, before your manager stops distracting all of those fans of yours."

Without waiting for a response, Ranmaru took a hold of Reiji's wrist and dragged him off the metal floor of the DDR game, pulling him back out the front door of the building. To tell you the truth, he just wanted to get as _far _away from Saiko as possible.

* * *

"It's too bad he's still mad about what I did...I wouldn't mind having him _and _Rei-chan all to myself." Saiko said with a sigh as he watched his ex-band member drag Reiji out of the arcade.

* * *

"Hey, you're going to get me seen." Reiji said in a surprisingly calm tone as Ranmaru dragged him off down the street. "Oh relax, it's around lunch hour, everyone here in Tokyo is busy stuffing their face at some cheap restaurant." Ranmaru said with a roll of his eyes, blinking and having to come to a stop when Reiji dug his heels into the ground. "What?"

"I wanna go back to my apartment."

"What-?! What the hell?! Why?!"

"Because, I really just wanted to sit around my living room in my pajamas for the rest of the day..." The brunette said, Ranmaru noticing the bit of longing that flashed through his pools of bright silver before they returned to their normal carefree state.

_Why...am I even _considering_ giving him what he wants...? _The silver-head thought, a frown slowly tugging at the corner of his lips.

This was weird. _Really _fucking weird. It was like he was actually _caring _about Reiji's feelings for once.

"...Fine."

Reiji blinked is surprise, totally not expecting Ranmaru to give in. "Really? You're not just fucking with me?"

"Yes, I mean it." Ranmaru sighed before mumbling, "And stop swearing so much...it doesn't suit you."

"Eh?"

"Nothing. Where's your apartment?"

"Down the-...you know what, how about I just lead?"

Ranmaru found himself blinking when Reiji wiggled his wrist out of his grip and took his hand, walking in front of him and leading him off towards the end of the street.  
He didn't bother-or even want- to argue about the sudden touch, so he just let his fingers lace with the brunette's as he was shown the way back to where his ex-band member had been living for so long.

* * *

"What floor do you live on?" Ranmaru could be heard asking Reiji as they stood in front of a set of closed elevator doors, the silver-eyed male watching the numbers above the doors slowly go down, showing that the elevator was slowly working its way down to their floor to pick them up. "The thirteenth."

"Why the thirteenth?"

Reiji shrugged. "The number is just easy to remember."

Ranmaru didn't bother to ask questions and just waited quietly with his 'friend' until the metal doors eased open, Reijii stepping in first and him following soon after. He went ahead and pressed the button with the number **13** en-carved into it and watched as the doors closed back before leaning against one of the cold metal walls, Reiji doing the same. "How big is your apartment?" He asked out of curiosity, figuring it would be best to make small talk. "Ah, actually fairly big...and it's really cozy too, so I really like it." Reiji responded simply, focusing his attention on the elevator doors, as if he was waiting for them to hurry up and open, which he was.  
If you looked closely enough, you could see that he was actually fairly tense. His arms may be folded over his chest, but his fingers were tightly grasping the fabric covering both of his upper arms.

"Hey, something wrong?"

Reiji looked up when Ranmaru spoke to him, responding to him with a shake of the head and a small, "No. Nothing's wrong."

That answer didn't seem to sit well with Ranmaru, because he kept his attention locked on the brunette up until the elevator gave a sharp jerk and forcefully stopped, nearly sending both him and Reiji crashing to the floor. "What the hell happened?" Said brunette asked, Ranmaru frowning. "I think it broke down on us..."

_"The elevator is experiencing a few technical difficulties. Please remain calm and wait for further assistance." _A calm, feminine voice called from the speaker hanging above the elevator's control panel.

"Well this sucks..." Ranmaru groaned, letting his attention drift back over to Reiji. "Hey...Reiji?"

The brunette's fingers were now visibly digging into his arms, his eyes filled with a mixture of panic and worry.

"Reiji, we'll be fine..." The silver-head said in a calm, slow tone, noticing the way Reiji was beginning to tremble.

He frantically shook his head, digging his fingers father into his arms and slowly sliding down so that he was sitting against the wall with his knees pulled up.

"...Hey, are you-...claustrophobic?"

"N-n-no..."

"Reiji..." Ranmaru let out an audible sigh, making his way over to sit down against the wall next to the brunette. He reached out and let one arm wrap around the back of Reiji's neck, pulling his head down onto his shoulder. "Relax, we'll be fine..." He quietly said in a gentle tone, letting his fingers run through Reiji's surprisingly soft hair. "N-no w-we wont..." The brunette said in a shaky tone. "W-we'll be in here forever...A-and the walls will close in on us...!"

"The walls wont close in on us. We'll be fine."

Ranmaru was about to say something else when Reiji didn't respond, but was cut off when the brunette moved to be sitting in his lap, his knees on either side of the silver-head's hips and his face buried in his chest. "Reiji-?"

"Please...please hold me...j-just until we get out...please...I-I'm scared..." Reiji's voice barely above a whisper, his fingers grasping the front of Ranmaru's shirt.

The silver-head had never seen the twenty-five year old in such a state, not even when he had still been a part of Quartet Night. So now that he got the chance to see him so scared, he felt his heart ache a bit more then he expected it to.

"A-...alright..." He slowly let his arms wrap around Reiji entirely, pulling him closer and resting his chin on top of his head, letting his eyes close.

"We'll be fine, I promise."

**Well, this is where this chapter ends! Thank you so much for all of the reviews, and I promise I wont take as long with the next chapter!**

**Ideas are welcome, and so are reviews. :3**


	5. Chapter 4

**Oh my god, guys, I'm **_**so **_**sorry about how long it took for me to make this update! It's just that I started this chapter on my sister's laptop, and she's been keeping it from me. Not to mention I've been sick. D: But, to make up for it, I made this an extra long chapter! So please forgive me. ;w;**

**Ah, and the rating went up to M because the kissing scene in this nearly goes farther then it should've and I more then likely will end up putting things that go farther then that into later chapters. ^^**

**Also, thank you all for all of the reviews. Reviews really pump me to keep writing this story and they really make me feel like you all are **_**actually**_** enjoying the fanfic, so thank you all for the reviews. ^^**

**Anyway~. I don't own Uta No Prince-Sama.**

How long were they stuck in that elevator? Ranmaru had honestly lost track of time, but it must've been for longer then he had expected because eventually, Reiji had fallen asleep in his arms, his pale lips slowly parting and slow, even breaths passing through them.

His fingers never stopped running through the brunette's hair, and the silver-head was quick to realize that he was _actually_ a bit afraid that if he stopped the comforting gesture, the smaller male in his arms would wake up and become frightened again, something he didn't want to happen.

A small clicking noise soon filled Ranmaru's ears, causing him to slowly open his eyes and look up.

_The elevator was moving again._

Glancing down at Reiji and seeing how incredibly calm and peaceful he looked in his sleep, Ranmaru let out a long sigh and just decided to let him rest.

After a bit of shifting around, he managed to scoop the brunette up into his arms, one of his arms locked under his knees and the other around his back so he could carry him bridal style.

Leaning against the wall of the elevator, Ranmaru waited until the metal doors opened on the thirteeth floor to walk out, holding Reiji up a little higher in his arms so that he didn't drop him.

_He's lost a lot of weight. _Ranmaru thought, looking around as he passed a bunch of doors.

Now that he thought about it, Reiji had never told him which room number he lived in, so the silver head was just going to have to go with the-hopefully-helpful information Reiji had told him before.

* * *

_"What floor do you live on?"_

_"The thirteenth."_

_"Why the thirteeth?"_

_Reiji shrugged. "The number is just easy to remember."_

* * *

"Found it." Ranmaru stopped in front of a door marked **13** and looked down at the sleeping figure in his arms, wondering where the _hell _Reiji kept his room key. "Dammit Reiji..." He mumbled, kneeling down and carefully propping the sleeping twenty-five year old up against the wall, his multicoloured eyes slowly trailing their way down his body and back up.

Well, if he didn't search for it, he would never find it.

Abruptly reaching out with his hands, Ranmaru reached into both of Reiji's jacket pockets, blinking when the fingers of his left hand grazed over something. "What the-...what's this?" He wondered aloud, grasping the object and pulling it out, finding himself staring at a black and red striped wallet.

_Oh, it's just his wallet...I wonder how much money-No. Bad thoughts. We're looking for his key, not time in prison for robbery_. Ranmaru thought with a quick shake of the head, hurrying to put Reiji's wallet back in his pocket.

Continuing his search, he let his fingers slide into the front pockets of Reiji's green jeans, finding nothing in either of them.

He had already been able to tell that the two back pockets of the brunette's jeans were fake-sew shut for looks-and that meant Reiji didn't have anymore pockets to keep things in...so, where could he had _possibly _hidden his room key?

Deciding not to give up just yet, Ranmaru let his fingers start back up at Reiji's chest, slowly sliding them down over his torso. If his fingers slid over anything that didn't feel like clothing or flesh, then he would know he found the key.

_He has such a...girly figure... _Ranmaru couldn't help but think as he let his fingers slide over Reiji's hips. _It's...strangely attractive..._

He found himself blinking when he pressed his fingers against the hem of the brunette's pants, the rounded-edge of something small and rectangular pressing against his fingers.

**"**AH _HA!**"**_

Letting out a triumphant call, Ranmaru pulled the card from Reiji's jeans, standing back up so he could push it into the lock on the door. Once the green light on the security lock confirmed the key, Ranmaru slipped it between his teeth and stooped back down to pick Reiji up.

Using his foot to push open the door, Ranmaru carried his sleeping 'friend' inside, his eyes widening the moment he stepped foot into the apartment.

_Oh...my...fucking...god..._

Ranmaru didn't think he had ever seen a more fancy looking apartment, and he had been inside of _Camus' _actual apartment before.

There was a plush white couch with black and red pillows stretching from one wall to the other. Across from said couch was a massive, shiny flat screen hanging high on the wall, and below that was a large black entertainment center filled with games and movies.  
A sparkly glass coffee table sat in front of the couch-seeming to actually contrast rather well with the marble flooring-and Ranmaru could just barely see a doorway off towards the outer edge of the room, which he assumed lead to a kitchen of some sort. _Good god..._

The silver-head let himself look around until his eyes set on the gray spiral staircase on the far end of the room._ His room must be up there._ He thought, crossing the room and descending up the stairs.

Ranmaru was a bit surprise to only find a bathroom and a single bedroom on the next floor, but he soon shook off the surprise and used his foot to kick open the door he assumed was for Reiji's bedroom and carried the sleeping brunette inside, squinting his eyes to adjust to the low amount of light.

He didn't bother to flick the lights on, but from what he could faintly see, Reiji's room was decorated a lot like his part of his room back at Saotome Gakuen, but-...since it took up a whole room now...Ranmaru couldn't help but realize what a calming-yet_...romantic_?-atmosphere the design of the room had.

_Weird..._

Deciding not to ponder too much on the thought, Ranmaru carried Reiji across the room and eased down onto the edge of his bed so he could lay the smaller-male down, reaching down to pull the soft, maroon-coloured blanket over top of him.

He let out a sigh, finding himself looking down at the sleeping figure next to him, not even realizing the smallest of smiles was tugging on the corner of his lips when he noticed that, even though Reiji had become one snappy son-of-a-bitch, he was...weirdly enough, attractive when he was asleep like this...  
...The way his bangs fell in front of his face, the way his long eye lashes were pressed downward against his cheeks, and the way his lips slowly parted was just so...

_Cute._

...Ah...

...The way his lips just slowly opened and closed...

...Those slow breaths passing through them and just barely fanning over them...

...God, he looked so _kissable_.

...Wait, _what?! _There was no _**WAY **_Ranmaru had just thought such a thing! Reiji couldn't look _kissable_! He disliked the kid more then Camus and Ai put together!

...But...ugh, he really did...He really _did _look kissable, no matter how much Ranmaru wanted to deny it, and before he cold stop himself, he was leaning down and closer to the sleeping figure's face, their breaths soon mixing together.

_So close..._

"What the _**HELL**_?!"

"GAH!"

Ranmaru was knocked backwards when a pillow suddenly hit him in the face, his breath getting knocked out of him when his back smacked against the floor.

"W-what the actual living _fuck _Ran-Ran?!"  
The brunette had sat himself up in his bed, an obvious blush spread across his cheeks.

"Well ya' didn't have to _hit _me you know!" Ranmaru couldn't help but groan out, slowly sitting himself back up so he could rub his now sore back. "Uh, yeah, I kinda' did!" Reiji shot back, a bit of embarrassment seeping it's way into his voice. "You were gonna' kiss me! While I was _sleeping_!"

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." The silver-head snorted, pulling himself back up so he could plop down on the side of Reiji's bed once again. "You were dead asleep anyway, so it's not like you really knew what I was doing. I could've been trying to suffocate you for all you know."

"With your _lips_?!"

"...Why do you sound so defensive anyway?"

Reiji's bright silver eyes slowly blinked upon being asked that, the light blush on his cheeks seeming to darken. "Well-..."

"If you_ really_ hadn't wanted me to kiss you, you would've yelled at me to get out already, but yet you've let me stay."

"U-um-.."

"Admit it, you wanted me to kiss you."

"I would _never _want such a thing!" The brunette snapped back. "Why would I ever want such an annoying bastard like you to kiss me?! Are you fucking insan-Mnnh!" Silver-eyes grew wide when a pair of lips shoved into his own, two hands pressed firmly to either side of his face to keep him in place, bright heterochromatic orbs-which were suddenly a lot closer then before-staring into his own, mercury coloured eyes.

Ranmaru was..._kissing_ him...

The lips slowly moved against his own, those bright purple and shiny silver eyes slowly falling shut as Ranmaru pulled Reiji's head a bit closer so he could deepened the kiss, the brunette finding himself beginning to melt into the gesture the more it continued.

And before he could even realize it, he was kissing him back.

He could feel the silver-head stiffen a bit from surprise when he started kneading his own lips back against his, but when his hands found their way up to lock behind the rocker's neck to pull him even closer, he felt him relax again.

The kiss kept it's slow speed, even when their tongues added to the mix; both of them didn't know why, but the slow dance of their tongues seemed to make things even more erotic.

A small sigh left Reiji's lips, and he didn't even register he was being pushed down until he felt his back pressing against the soft mattress, Ranmaru hovering over him.

The two idol's lips were forced to pull apart when oxygen was needed, but after a few moments of refilling their lungs, they were at it again.

Slowly, Reiji could feel nimble fingers push beneath the hem of his shirt, grazing the skin on his stomach before they worked their way up, eventually brushing over a dusty pink nipple, making the brunette gasp and come back to his senses.  
Almost automatically, Ranmaru was shoved back, Reiji pushing himself and the silver-head back into a sitting position once again, his hands firmly pressing against his shoulders.

No words were exchanged, and after a little while of just sitting there, breathless and confused, Ranmaru felt his own eyes widen.

He just-...

_Almost with_-...

**Dear god.**

"Reiji I-" Before Ranmaru could even think to get some form of explanation out, a doorbell was rung, the sound echoing throughout the entire apartment.

"I'll get it." Reiji said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and not meeting Ranmaru's eyes as he got up and crossed the room, walking his way through the doorway and pressing his back to the door to close it back.  
He then leaned against it and brought his hand up to cover his mouth. _W-we just-..._

* * *

Once the door was shut and Ranmaru was left alone in the room, he pressed two of his fingers against his lips. _We just-..._

_**-Kissed. **_They both thought simultaneously.

* * *

Reiji felt his cheeks heating up once again at the realization. _A-and we nearly got enough in to it to where we almost had-_

* * *

Ranmaru wished he could've stopped the light blush that rose to his cheeks. _I actually _touched _him and we nearly ended up having-_

_**-sex.** _They both thought in unison once again.

The sound of the doorbell ringing again snapped Reiji out of his daze and he practically ran his way down the stairs, calling out, "I'm coming!" on his way down.

* * *

"Ah, so Hirakou said she'd keep Tris over-night...? Really? I told her she didn't have to do that."

Reiji was looking up at and speaking to Saiko, who was grinning and leaning against the door frame of his front door, his arms folded over his chest. "It's her birthday present to you; you don't have to babysit tonight." He said, his grin slowly forming into a smirk. "But, that's not the _real _reason I'm here."

Reiji's head slowly fell to the side in a small tilt the blonde couldn't help but find adorable. "Then why _are _you here?"

"To give you my present of course~." Without warning, Reiji was grabbed and he was shoved against the door, said door slamming shut in the process. "Saiko-!"

"Shh, dear. It's your birthday..." Saiko leaned closer to Reiji, his lips brushing against his ear, sending an almost violent shiver down the brunette's spine, much to his liking. "Relax...I'll be nice and gentle with you, I promise~." Pressing his hands against the door on either side of Reiji's head, Saiko leaned in, intending to capture the smaller-male's lips in a hungry, heated kiss, only to have the back of his shirt yanked on, causing him to yelp in surprise and stumble back away from Reiji.

"What he HELL Saiko?!"

_Oh, wait, he knew that voice~!_

"Ran-Ran~!" Spinning around, Saiko smirked at seeing the obviously angered silver-head. "What are you doing here~?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." Ranmaru snapped, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. "Now, why don't you tell me, why the hell are _you _here?"

"To give Rei-chan his birthday present of course~." Saiko hummed, his breathy, seductive tone of voice only pissing Ranmaru off further. "Like hell you are."

"And who are you to tell me otherwise, hmm~?" Saiko stepped closer and pressed his index finger to Ranmaru's chest, his voice lowering so only the silver-head could hear him as he whispered, "Is _someone_ just jealous of the thought that _I_ can satisfy Rei-chan in ways you never will?"

Ranmaru hissed, but before he could respond, Reiji spoke up. "Guys, stop."

"Yeah, Ran-Ran, stop trying to start a fight with me." Saiko practically sang, stepping away from Ranmaru. "I wasn't even-"

"It doesn't matter. Saiko, I think you should go though..." Reiji said, folding his arms over his chest and walking forward a bit so he could cock his head back to gesture to the closed door behind him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Aww, okay~." Saiko sounded a bit sad and whiny, but he didn't argue, turning around so that his back was facing Ranmaru. "Have fun with Ran-Ran, Rei-chan~. Just-...not _too _much fun, 'kay~?" The blonde's voice dropped a few octaves for that single sentence as he made his way forward, brushing past Reiji.

**SMACK!**

A high pitched squeal filled the room, Reiji's hands scrambling to press against his now stinging rear-end.

_He just slapped my ass! _

"Bye my Rei-chan~." The blonde's voice chuckled in obvious amusement before the front door clicked shut, leaving a fuming Ranmaru and a flustered Reiji alone together

"...I can't believe you like that ass..." Ranmaru said after a few moments of eerie silence filled the room. "We're not getting into this argument again." Reiji sighed, moving to walk past Ranmaru, only to have his wrist grabbed so he was forced to whip around and meet the silver-head's eyes. "He just about _jumped _you Reiji!"

"Yeah, so what? That's how Saiko flirts, everyone knows that."

"Reiji, that was obviously more then just _flirting_!" Ranmaru countered, Reiji yanking out of his grip. "_Ranmaru_, my relationship with Saiko has nothing to do with you! Stop acting like it does!"

Ranmaru was caught off guard by the fact that Reiji had just addressed him as _Ranmaru, _and not _ Ran-Ran._ "Reiji-..."

"Just get out."

Ranmaru felt a frown forming on his lips, Reiji refusing to look at him. "Get out. I wanna' be alone."

For once, Ranmaru didn't put up much of a fight. Instead, he walked passed the brunette, grabbing the knob of the front door, twisting it, and using it to push the door open. "I'll be back...We want you back in Quartet Night, where you belong." He confessed, stepping outside and not being able to see Reiji lift his head and turn towards him, a bit of surprise passing through his eyes, though he still kept quiet.

"Oh, and-...happy twenty-second birthday. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Silver-eyes widened, and just as Reiji opened his mouth to speak, the door closed.

He didn't know why, but when Ranmaru said those simple words to him, he felt his heart skip a beat and he didn't know why. Along with that..._Ranmaru_-a stoic, arrogant bass-player-had just _apologized _to him.

"The kiss was enough of a present." The brunette quietly said as he stared at the door, knowing he was the only one who could hear himself.

**And that's where this chapter ends! Please forgive me, I tried to make it as long of a chapter as I could, but, if it doesn't make up for how long it took for me to update, don't be mad at me! D:**

**Anyway, ideas and reviews are welcomed! :3**


	6. Chapter 5

**_Guess who already got chapter five up~? That's right, Alex did! :DD_**

**_I do not own Uta No Prince-sama._**

_"I'll be back...We want you back in Quartet Night, where you belong."_

_"Oh, and-...happy twenty-second birthday. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."_

Those simple phrases had been encarved into Reiji's head, he literally could _not _stop thinking about them.

...Or the silver-head that had spoken the words to him for that matter.

Reiji was sitting up against his front door, his knees pulled up against his chest and a lit cigarette held between his middle and index finger.

When he let out a long, well-needed sigh, a large puff of smoke passed through his lips, eventually disappearing up into the air.

Reiji would admit, he knew smoking was just a horrible thing to do, especially when healthy lungs are something every singer needs, but-...when something was bothering him, he wouldn't hesitate to light a drag to relax himself.

_Why was this even bothering him so much?  
_  
Maybe what Ranmaru said wasn't even the problem...maybe it was the kiss. The kiss he had actually really _enjoyed._

"Ugh, I don't even know..." The brunette groaned, using his free hand to run his fingers through his hair, eventually pressing the drag in his other hand to his lips and inhaling, removing the cigarette to exhale once again.

He really couldn't figure out just _why_ he was bothered so much.

Could it be that-...he was actually _regretting _kicking Ranmaru out? I mean, it _had _been a lonely year for him, even with his new band to keep him company...So maybe the fact he was all alone again was the reason he was so upset.

Now that he thought about it, he actually kind of _missed _being in Quartet Night. He missed it alot...

* * *

_"Can you hand me the flour, Myu-chan~?"_

_"Eh? Yeah, sure. Here."_

_Chocolate__ brown locks and pale blonde hair were both pulled up into high ponytails, Reiji and Camus busy making some kind of dessert for Quartet Night, mixing bowls held securely in one of their arms and mixing spoons in the hand of their other._

_"Ne, Myu-chan~! Look!"_

_Said blonde looked up when Reiji spoke to him, the brunette setting his own bowl down._

_What Cams _didn't _expect was a puff of white smoke exploding in his face and flour getting all over his cheeks and forehead. "Hey!" Frowning a bit, he reached out and into the bag of flour sitting on the table, doing the same as Reiji had done to him and throwing the flour at his face._

_Silver-eyes slowly blinked and Reiji couldn't help it, he started laughing despite the flour now covering his own face, pointing at Camus. "You should've seen your face!"_

_"You have it all over yours now too you know..." Camus slowly said. _

_"I know, but still!"_

_Camus watched his fellow band member clutch his stomach and continue laughing, and before he could stop it, a rare, small smile formed on his own lips._

_Reiji might've been a handful, but he was still a fun guy to have around._

* * *

Reiji leaned his head back against the door, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corner of his lips. _I miss cooking with Myu-chan...That was always so much fun._

* * *

_"Ai-Ai?"_

_Bright, ice-blue eyes looked up towards the door of his bedroom, Ai finding a blinking Reiji standing in the doorway. "What's wrong? You've been acting really weird lately."_

_"There is nothing wrong." The blue-haired idol automatically replied in a blank tone, turning his head to look out the window, his feet pulled up onto his bed so he could rest his chin on his knees. "Oh c'mon, I'm not _that _dense, Ai-Ai." Reiji said with a light chuckle, making his way across the room to sit down on the bed next to his friend. "I won't tell Myu-chan or Ran-Ran, just tell me what's up; it'll be our little secret."_

_Ai let out a small sigh, turning his head so he could look at the brunette. "What is 'friendship'?"_

_Reiji slowly blinked at the question. "Friendship...?"_

_Ai nodded. "Yes, friendship. I have heard the word many times, but the definition isn't in my database, and so I am left horribly bewildered about what it means." He said, Reiji going quiet for a few moments in thought, leaning back on the palms of his hands. "Well...friendship is simply a relationship between friends, but _I _personally believe that, to have an actual friendship, you have to be loyal to your friends, and you have be reliable enough to where they can trust you with anything." He explained. "Along with that, you always have to be there for yours friends to have a good friendship, you can't just leave them behind when they need help."_

_Ai let his eyebrows slowly furrow together. "Do we have a friendship?"_

_"Of course!" Reiji smiled that goofy little grin of his. "I'll always be here for you, Ai-Ai! Same with the rest of Quartet Night! We'll be best friends forever~."_

* * *

Reiji reached down to put out his cigarette in the ash tray he had sitting next to him. _I miss having Ai-Ai to talk and teach little things to..._

_"Muahhh! Ran-Ran, come on-!"_

_"No."_

_"Aww, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee?!"_

_"No, Reiji. I refuse."_

_The childish whining continued, and eventually, the silver-head was forced to give in to Reiji's pleads, said male cheering in happiness._

_"Left foot green!"_

_"Right hand red!"_

_"Right foot blue!"_

_Both Ranmaru and Reiji were stretched out on Twister mat, their hands and feet moving according to what the spinner in Ai's hands landed on._

_"Left hand yellow!"_

_When they both tried to move their left hands though, they both collapsed, Reiji losing his balance and plopping down right on top of Ranmaru, who then groaned in obvious annoyance._

_"Pfft-! Hahaha!" The silver-head's attention was brought up to Reiji, who had cracked up, his arms folded over his stomach as he laughed, "God, we're both so bad at this game!"_

* * *

At remembering this final memory, Reiji could stop the wave of emotions that flooded over him.

Tears fell from his eyes and slid down his cheeks.

_He missed his friends, he missed them so, _SO _much._

"I don't want to be alone anymore..." Reiji softly cried, burying his face in his hands, his fingers and palms quickly becoming soaked with salty tears.

His heart ached, and he _really _regretted telling Ranmaru to leave him alone.

The sudden sound of the door being knocked on caused the him to jump out of surprise, his hands moving to frantically wipe at his watery eyes. "Y-yes? Who is it?" He tried to say without his voice shaking.

"Rei-chan, open up~."

Reiji slowly blinked at the voice.

"S-Saiko, what do want?" He quietly asked, not wanting his fellow band member to see him in such a state.

"Are you crying?"

He stiffened at that. "S-Saiko-..."

"Rei-chan, open the door." Saiko's voice was a bit more gentle this time, and Reiji let out a shaky sigh before kicking his ash tray off to the side and pushing himself to his feet once again to open the door.

Before he could open his mouth though, the blonde embraced him, his face buried in his hair and his strong arms wrapped tightly around his waist. "Rei-chan, why are you crying?" He asked in a voice that showed the brunette he actually cared.

"I-it doesn't matter..."

"Yes it does, is it Ran-Ran, did he make you cry?"

"N-n-"

"Ah, it was him, wasn't it?" Saiko hadn't even bothered to let Reiji finish his sentence, and before he could speak up again, he continued, "To think, he would make you cry on your own birthday."

"S-Saiko i-it wasn't Ran-Ran's-" Reiji was cut off by a small yelp that left his lips, Saiko abruptly taking a few steps forward and causing him to stumble backwards, his foot being used to kick the front door shut behind him.

"Rei-chan, I regret not staying here to keep that bastard away from you; if I had stayed here, you wouldn't be shedding any tears now."

Reiji's eyes widened slightly out of surprise, Saiko only tightening his grip on him. "Saiko..."

"But don't worry, I'm here now..." Saiko moved his face back a little so he could grip Reiji's chin and tilt it up towards him, his eyes locking with the smaller male's. "And I'll make you forget all of the sad things in your head."

* * *

"Dammit, I'm so conflicted on what to do..." Ranmaru was mumbled to himself, his fingers running through his soft silver locks as he slouched back on the couch in his own apartment.

"If I apologize to him, he probably wont believe I mean it; he'll think I'm just saying it up to get him away from Saiko and to get him back to make Quartet Night one of the most famous bands again."

Letting out a groan, Ranmaru threw his hands up into the air. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!"

After a little while, he let out a sigh and relaxed again, looking down at his phone, which as sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

"...I don't know what I'll do or say, but I have to do something before something bad happens..."

Snatching up the device, Ranmaru was quick to type a message, sending it to his brown-haired friend.

[Meet me in front of the lake you took me to on my birthday last year tomorrow at one. I need to talk to you, and just until then, stay away from Saiko, after we talk, if you still wanna' hang around him, that's fine.  
-Ranmaru]

A light buzzing noise filled a once quiet room, followed by a once black phone screen lighting up, indicating a text was just received.

A tired groan soon accompanied the small sound, an arm shooting out from under a set of blankets to snatch the device up, a body pushing itself up into a sitting position. The blanket once covering the figure fell to it's lap, showing off a bare chest and stomach.

Silver eyes squinted as Reiji read over the message, a small frown coming to his lips as he slowly typed a reply.

[I'll meet you there.  
-Reiji]

The response didn't hold any form of promise for the silver-head's requests to be fulfilled, but it was enough of a reply to show that Reiji would keep his word and would show up there tomorrow.

"Mm...love, wha'cha doing?" A pale arm draped over Reiji's lap from under the blankets, a single finger drawing small circles on the his left thigh. "Ah, it's nothing, go back to sleep."

"Only if you do too~."

Reiji let out a sigh and looked down, a mess of blonde and red hair and bright blue eyes staring up at him. "No. Just go back to sleep, Saiko." Setting his phone back on his nightstand, Reiji layed back down, a pair of arms wrapping around his middle when he buried his face in Saiko's chest.

"Who were you texting~?"

"Doesn't matter..." Reiji mumbled, letting out a small squeak of surpise when the hands on his lower back slid down to give his ass a rough squeeze. "Okay okay, it was-!..." He paused for a moment to think of a good enough lie. "-...Myu-chan."

"That stiff Count from your old band? Why were you texting him?"

"Because I could now, shut up...I'm tired...you wore me out..."

Saiko let out small chuckle, going quiet until he felt Reiji's warm breath begin to fan out over the skin on his chest in a slow pattern, showing that he had fallen asleep.

"I'm not an idiot, love~. I bet that was Ran-Ran telling you to stay away from me~." He hummed, looking down at the sleeping figure in his arms.

"Really, when he told you that the first time, you should've just listened...You're all mine now."

**And thus brings an end to this chapter~!**

**Ideas and reviews are welcome. :3**


	7. Chapter 6

**Wow, okay. I've never seen so much hate on one character before. O_O;;**

**Seriously, I expected everyone to be mad at Saiko, but not THAT mad at him. XD Oh well, he can have all the hate, I honestly don't mind.**

**Though, I will say this, about how you guys were saying that Reiji felt so much with Ran-Ran's kiss, and that he shouldn't have given in so easily to Saiko-...guys, he was hurt at the time.  
He had just realized how lonely he really was and how much he missed his best friends, he was completely vulnerable D: But, none of that matters because- Oh, well, I can't tell you why, you'll just have to read to find out. :3**

**Oh, and good news! Thanks to this fanfic I'm keeping up with, I've decided to try and make my chapters longer! -TRY being the key word there-**

**Welp, anyway, thank you all of the reviews once again! And I do not own Uta No Prince-sama.**

A pair of bright purple and silver-eyes shot open, followed by a sharp gasp as Ranmaru abruptly sat up in his bed, sweat clinging to his forehead and causing his spiky-silver bangs to stick to his skin.

_What...in the world was that...?_

Letting out little pants, the rocker quickly shook his head, burying his face in his hands as images from his sudden erotic nightmare replayed in his mind.

_"A-aah! S-Saiko...! N-nhn..! M-more! H-harder~!"_

**Those desperate cries of pleasure.**

_Brown hair tossed back, sweat clinging to the beautiful body beneath the blonde as those pale lips let out heavy pants, Reiji's back arching off the bed almost entirely as he was pounded into a sweet oblivion._

**The way his body reacted.**

_Fingers dug into the satin white sheets, fisting them as his climax rode up on him, Reiji writhing beneath the figure over top of him in the most erotic way possible, moaning out his name as strings of pearly-whites erupted from him, splashing against the blonde's stomach._

_"S-Saiko...!"_

**It was all such a turn-on.  
**...Up until the silver-head realized just _who _had been giving the brunette so much pleasure in the dream.

_Saiko. The bastard he would always hate._

Without much thought, Ranmaru snatched his phone up from his nightstand and flipped it open, being quick with typing a short message.

[Hey, you okay?  
-Ranmaru]

A small hum filled a relatively quiet room, a big flat-screen bright with life even though no sound came from it, giving off the assumption it had been put on mute.

When the sound of a phone vibrating interrupted that sweet silence, a small frown tugged at the corner Reiji's pale lips, his silver-eyes drifting down to the coffee table in front of the couch he was laying back on.

_Who in the world would be texting him so early in the morning?_

Reaching out to pick up the device, Reiji flipped it open and read over the text, his silver-orbs slowly blinking at the words on the small screen.

[Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?  
-Reiji] -was Reiji's response, the brunette a bit startled with how-...un-awkward the conversation was starting out, despite the small fight him and Ranmaru had ended having the day before.

[Is Saiko there with you?  
-Ranmaru]

Reiji looked down at the sleeping blonde who had his head in his lap, his eyes shut and his sun-yellow eye-lashes pressed down against his cheeks, a soft, surprisingly cute snore emitting from him each time he inhaled.

[Yeah, he came over yesterday after I broke down.  
-Reiji]

Reiji didn't even have time to put down his phone before it vibrated again.

[You were crying yesterday...?  
-Ranmaru]

Reiji stiffened when he read over the text, cursing under his breath when he realized he had let the small amount of info slip.  
[It doesn't matter. He's here, but we just stayed up late watching a movie; why?  
-Reiji]

This time, it was Ranmaru's turn to stiffen.

_Reiji already knows I dont like Saiko...but that doesn't mean he needs to know I actually __**care.**_ Ranmaru thought before typing his response.

[I just wanted to know is all.  
-Ranmaru]

[Tch. Creep.  
-Reiji]

Ranmaru snorted after reading over the message, shaking his head and snapping his phone shut, deciding not to respond to it.

Though he was still so confused..._why would he have a nightmare like that?_

He cared about Reiji as a _friend..._nothing more, nothing less.

At least...he thought he did...

"Ugh...I'll deal with this later." He said aloud with a groan, tossing his phone down next to him and climbing out of his bed to get ready for the day.

* * *

_He must really not want me around Saiko..._ Reiji thought after waiting a few minutes and not receiving a text back from Ranmaru, his phone still in his hand but his free one resting on top of Saiko's head, his fingers just gently carding through his soft blonde locks._ I wonder...could he actually be telling the truth? _He wondered, looking down at the sleeping blonde. _I mean...Ran-ran's never gotten so worked up before...but then again...Saiko's really nice to me...he would never be my friend just because he wants sex..._

The brunette was snapped out of his thoughts when the door was knocked on.

"E-eh? O-oh, coming!" He called, trying to be a bit quiet, but also trying to be loud enough to where whoever was knocking would hopefully hear him.

Gently lifting Saiko's head up, Reiji slid off the couch, setting it back down on the soft cushions moments later so he could hurry to the door.

Unlocking it and twisting the doorknob, Reiji opened up the door, his eyes widening when ice-blue orbs met his own, that long, luscious, pale blonde hair being all too familiar to him.

"Myu...-chan...?"

What soon drew the brunette's attention was the giggly child in Camus' arms, whose pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes actually-...resembled him quite a bit.

"Is this little thing yours?" Camus blankly asked, holding out the giggling girl, who automatically stretched her small arms out towards Reiji.

"Weiji! Weiji, Twis missed you!"

Reiji blinked, the smallest of smiles coming to his lips as he reached out to take the child from Camus, holding her in his arms. "Hey, Tris...Rei-chan missed you too." He said softly before he looked up at Camus, who spoke before he could.

"This lady in the elevator handed her to me and told me to bring her since I was already on my way up to see you." He said, Reiji slowly blinking. "Oh...well thanks...Wait, how did you get my address?"

Camus folded his arms over his chest. "I know people." He said simply, Reiji letting out a sigh, though mentally, he was a bit happy to know Camus had come to see him. "What is it you needed?" He asked, sounding a bit like his old self.

"I came to get Ranmaru...I was honestly a bit afraid you had murdered him or something along those lines since he hadn't returned to me and Ai yet."

Reiji blinked, not being able to help but softly laugh at that, something he hadn't done in a while. "Yeah Myu-chan, that totally sounds like me."

"Well, the way you've been acting lately on television and what-not hasn't been sounding like you either...so I figured it was alright to assume." Camus said, leaning against the door-frame, Reiji looking up at him, completely surprised for a moment.

"Well it wasn't, so fuck off." He suddenly snapped after getting out of his daze, Camus himself blinking. "You really have changed...haven't you?" He asked, his look softening up a bit.  
"You're not the same Reiji Kotobuki you were twelve months ago..."

"No I'm not. I'm better then him." Reiji said, turning his back to Camus temporarily so he could set Tris down, who automatically ran off. "I'm more famous then him...I'm more of a man then he was." He continued once he had faced Camus once again.

"But you're also more rude then he was...and you're not as likeable, or even gentlemanly...You've become something the old Reiji would despise; you're like a more irritable version of Ranmaru..."

Reiji flinched a bit at that. "I-..." He faltered a bit for a response.

"We want _our _Reiji Kotobuki back."

Silver eyes widened. "Myu-chan-..."

"We want you back in Quartet Night, where you belong."

_Those words..._

_They were back._

_"We want you back in Quartet Night, where you belong."_

...Ranmaru had said that exact same thing to him...

"...Why?"

Confusion passed through Camus's blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you guys want me back so badly...? You, Ran-ran, and Ai-ai all watched me leave...and you guys didn't do anything to stop me..."

"Reiji, _I_ didn't stop you because I knew you'd be fine...and I wanted you to prove Ranmaru wrong. I wanted him to know what it felt like to be wrong...but in a severe way so he would always remember the lesson."

Reiji let a small frown tug at the corner of his lips. "But I was gone for an entire _year _Myu-chan...and you're _just _now coming to talk to me..."

"Actually, Kotobuki-san, it has not been exactly three-hundred and sixty-five days since you first declared your leave from Quartet Night. In actuality, it has only been three-hundred and sixty-_two _days."

A patch of bright blue hair slid out from behind Camus, a pair of equally shiny blue eyes meeting Reiji's own widened ones. "Ai-ai, you're here too?"

"Yes, I am." The blunette nodded. "And I completely agree with Camus on this one, you've changed, Kotobuki-san...Though, may I ask, have you _really _actually changed so much? According to my calculations, you seem to be acting this way for show, not because you actually want to."

Reiji was at a loss for words once again. "Ai-ai-"

"You don't really want to act this way, you're just doing it because it's how your fan-base wants you to act."

Reiji let his arms fold over his chest, but mainly because he could grasp the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt that way and look down at the floor.

He didn't know what to say. He _really _didn't.

Mainly because..._It all _was _just an act...but he never expected anyone to actually see that..._

"Kotobuki-san."

Reiji slowly looked up when Ai got his attention, his eyes becoming fixated on the blue haired teenager. "You taught me something very important."

"I-...I've taught you lots of things Ai-ai...which particular thing are you talking about...?" Reiji asked, his voice shaking a bit as his eyes involuntarily began to water.

_He never wanted to keep acting like a total douche. All he ever wanted-_

"You'll remember when the time is right..." Ai slowly opened his arms in a gesture he had never shown before. "But, I shall give you a hint...I'm here because of it."

"Come back to us Reiji." Camus finally spoke himself.

"We need you." Both him and Ai said in unison.

_-was to know his friends truly loved him and wanted him in the band._

The ever-building tears fell and Reiji dove into Ai's awaiting arms, clinging to the slightly-taller male as he cried, "I-I missed you guys so much...!"

"...We missed you too." Both Ai and Camus' voices said, a pair of bigger arms wrapping around Reiji from behind-much to his surprise-and a chin resting on his head, blonde locks falling over his shoulders.

"Twis missed Weiji too!"

Where she had come from, they would never know, but Tris-who had taken what was going on the wrong way-had her small arms wrapped around Reiji's left leg, hugging and nuzzling it. "Twis missed Weiji lots!"

Ah...If only the group had noticed the cold, ocean blue orbs that stared at them from the couch, the occupant's brain going into over-drive.

_Those sons of bitches aren't taking my Rei-chan away from me..._

* * *

"Kurosaki-san told you where to go right? To rendezvous with him?"

Reiji gave a small nod, leading his blonde-haired and blue-haired friends out of the building, a giggling Tris held securely in his arms; after he had calmed down, he had told them about the text message Ranmaru had sent him last night, telling him to meet him, and both Ai and Camus had agreed to take him there and watch over Tris while they spoke.

"Do you remember how to get there?" Camus was the one who spoke this time, the group coming to a stop at where the sidewalk cut off so they could walk across the road using the cross walk.

"Of course I do Myu-chan." Reiji said with a small smile, holding Tris out to the blonde-who soon took her-so he could press the button on the pole next to them, which would then send a signal to tell light to turn red so they could cross. "But...will you guys do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"Yes."

"Will you-..." Reiji bit his lip. "Will you not tell Ran-ran the way I'm acting...is all an act...?"

Camus furrowed his eyebrows together. "May I ask why?"

"I want him to figure it out on his own..." Reiji said simply but in a quiet tone. "That and I'm still going to need to be able to act in such a rude way in front of others...at least until I can muster up the courage to quit my current band..."

Camus and Ai slowly blinked but gave little nods, both of them blinking their blue eyes when they saw Reiji had already begun to cross the street, the sign across the road seeming to have already changed, telling them it was okay to walk.

Starting to make their way across the intersection, the two male's blinked, seeing Reiji already facing them on the sidewalk on the other side.

_Guess the kid was a faster walker then he looked._

Before the two could even get halfway across the road, something caught their attention, causing them to stop.

A bright light was coming hurdling down the road in the lane closest to Reiji, the large white truck intending to run the light and go straight through the intersection.

They never had time to react to the scene though; a patch of blonde and red hair suddenly came into view behind their brown-headed friend, and before Reiji could even detect the figure was there, two strong hands shoved into his back, pushing him forward so that he tripped over the sidewalk's ledge, right into the street.

And right into the line of the speeding car.

_Then time seemed to slow done._

Reiji didn't fall, but he sure as hell did stumble, not having enough time to recover and get out of the way of the on-coming car, whose driver wasn't even looking at the road, and was instead, looking down at his phone, texting away.

But what happened next suddenly caused multiple thoughts to come barreling at him at once.

_"What is 'friendship'?"_

_Reiji slowly blinked at the question. "Friendship...?"_

_Ai nodded. "Yes, friendship. I have heard the word many times, but the definition isn't in my database, and so I am left horribly bewildered about what it means."_

Two pale hands shot out from in front of him-

_"Well...friendship is simply a relationship between friends, but I personally believe that, to have an actual friendship, you have to be loyal to your friends, and you have be reliable enough to where they can trust you with anything." He explained. "Along with that, you always have to be there for yours friends to have a good friendship, you can't just leave them behind when they need help."_

_Ai let his eyebrows slowly furrow together. "Do we have a friendship?"_

_"Of course!" Reiji smiled that goofy little grin of his. "I'll always be here for you, Ai-Ai! Same with the rest of Quartet Night! We'll be best friends forever~."_

and gave him a firm shove so he was pushed backward.

_"Kotobuki-san."_

_Reiji slowly looked up when Ai got his attention, his eyes becoming fixated on the blue haired teenager. "You taught me something very important."_

Ice blue eyes met mercury silver ones as Reiji smacked back onto the pavement of the sidewalk, bright blue hair becoming a blur as Ai fell his way forward, not onto or towards the sidewalk, but down, towards the asphalt of the street, the bright lights that had once been distanced suddenly much, much brighter.

_"I-...I've taught you lots of things Ai-ai...which particular thing are you talking about...?" Reiji asked, his voice shaking a bit as his eyes involuntarily began to water._

_"You'll know when the time is right..."_

It might've just been Reiji's imagination, but he could've sworn his widened-eyes had seen a faint smiling tugging at the corner of the bluenette's pale lips before the car blurred into his line of sight and the most atrocious, stomach churning crushing noise filled the air.

_Friendship._

**_"AI-AI!"_**

**And this is where this chapter ends, on a cliff hanger, I truly am sorry my dears, but I cannot focus any longer, it is already seven AM where I am. ^^;;**

**And just in case any of you are confused, Camus calls everyone by their last names in the actual UtaPri series, but I figured since everyone was so close now, he would try to do something that would make him feel closer to the band.**

**Ideas and reviews are welcome~. :3**


	8. Chapter 7

**Yay, update time! Sorry this chapter took longer then expected, I had to get the first chapter of "Just Another Cinderella Story" up; I had been wanting to start that RanRei fic for quite some time now, so I'm glad I finally got it up. :D**

**Anyway, once again, thank you all for the tons of reviews! They all made me so happy, oh, and I do not own Uta No Prince-sama.**

There was no blood whatsoever, but body parts surely did fly, scattering in every possible direction.

Every pair of eyes that witnessed the tragic event were wide, even Tris', who would more then likely end up with a mental scar from seeing the blunette get hit and crushed by the truck.  
Her widened eyes watered literally sixty-seconds after the event had occurred, tears soon falling down her plump cheeks as she let out a loud cry of distress.

To be honest, Camus and Reiji weren't any better, neither of them knew what to do at the moment; they were both frozen in place.

In fact, It wasn't until bystanders started noticing the scene that they finally snapped out of their horrified daze.

"Shh, Tris-san...It's alright." Camus coaxed, one of his hands resting on the back of the crying child's head. His feet carried him backwards a few steps so he no longer as close to where the truck had been forced to stop.

His hands were shaking and his heart was beating so quickly in his chest he was actually surprised it hadn't burst yet, but of course, we wasn't going to let the shock show; no, he would always be the leader of Quartet Night-no matter how serious the situation got-so he was going to force himself to keep his cool even if _he _felt like breaking down. "Reiji! Go get Ranmaru! Tell him what's happened! I'll deal with everything here!"

"B-but..." The brunette was shaking a bit himself, his widened eyes filled with tears that were already threatening to fall.

_How could he let this happen...?_

"_Go!"_

"I-I can't just leave you guys here...!"

"Reiji, Tris-san and I will be fine, I wont let anything happen to her and I refuse to let Ai die, but Ranmaru has the right to know what's going on, _go to him!"_

Reiji stiffened but finally agreed and gave a small, shaky nod, stumbling to get up as he forced his eyes to tear away from the image before him.

Once he was on his feet, he glanced back at Camus and Tris before hurrying to continue off down the street, his hair fluttering behind him as he ran.

_This is all my fault!_

Blue eyes watched the brown-haired male sprint off from around a corner, the blonde and red-haired male letting out a dark-sounding laugh, a sadistic grin forming on his lips. _  
One down, two more to go._

* * *

The wind blew though Ranmaru's silver-hair, his discolored eyes lost in the sparkly blue waters of the lake before him. His hands were in the pockets of his blue jeans and his back was pressed against the rough bark of a nearby tree.

_He's late...I wonder if he's even going to show... _He thought, letting a deep sigh pass his lips.

_Reiji was supposed to meet him over fifteen minutes ago._

_"Ran-ran!"_

He pulled his eyes away from the lake when he was called out to, and when he turned towards the voice, all he got was a glimpse of chocolate-brown hair as it streaked its way across his vision before a smaller body slammed into his own.

He gasped in surprise, feeling a pair of hands press against his chest to fist the front of his shirt.

Looking down after getting over his surprise, Ranmaru was met with the sight of tousled brown locks, and he was even more shocked when the face buried in his chest tipped back to look up at him, tears streaming down Reiji's cheeks and his silver-eyes a bit puffy.

"R-...eiji...?"

"I-It's horrible!" The brunette cried, the flow of tears becoming more heavy as he clung to the silver-head. "And it's all my fault!"

"C-calm down." Ranmaru tried to say in a calm tone, though he stuttered a bit in the process. "What are you talking about?"

"I-It's Ai-ai! He's...been hit by a truck...!"

Ranmaru's eyes went wide. _"What?!"_

"He pushed me out of the way..." Reiji looked back down, pressing his face back into Ranmaru's chest as he trembled against him.

"What were doing in the the way of the truck in the first place?" Ranmaru asked in a soft tone, letting his arms slide around Reiji's waist so he could hold him closer. "I...I don't remember...I-I think I fell off the sidewalk..."

"Then it was an accident, Reiji. Don't blame yourself..." Ranmaru leaned down to bury in face in Reiji's hair, letting one arm stay wrapped around him but his other sliding up so he could bury one hand in his hair to hold him tighter.

"He saved me though! Because I was the one in the street! If I hadn't gotten in the way...none of this would've happened!" Reiji cried, making Ranmaru flinch. "Reiji, relax..." He coaxed, easing down so he could sit up against the tree, Reiji sitting on the ground between his legs.

"I-I can't! He's broken! And because of _me, _Ran-ran!"

"Shh...shh...It's alright..." Ranmaru whispered, just holding the crying brunette for a while until his hoarse cries died down to consecutive sniffling, his own shirt soaked with salty tears by now.

"...What was Ai doing here to begin with?" Ranmaru quietly asked once Reiji had calmed down, loosening his grip on him so Reiji could sit up on his knees, rubbing his watery eyes with the back of his hands. "H-he and Myu-chan came to see me...and they were gonna' watch Tris for me while we talked..." He explained in a shaky tone, setting his hands back down in his lap and offering Ranmaru a small smile. "She's this little girl I found on the street a few days ago..."

Ranmaru slowly blinked, removing the arm that was wrapped around Reiji's waist but keeping the one buried in his soft hair where it was.

_Why did it... make his heart flutter to see him smile again after all of that? _

"Reiji..." Ranmaru let his hand slide from the brown locks, his fingers stroking over Reiji's left cheek before they gently grasped his chin, tilting it up a bit more.

"Ran-ran..." Reiji felt his eyes slowly fall half-lidded when Ranmaru looked down at him like that, the silver-head leaning closer, their lips only a few centimeters apart.

_I want to kiss him again...I want him to continue to smile...I don't want him to break down like that in front of me ever again... _Ranmaru thought, his breath mingling with Reiji's.

_...I love his smile...It's absolutely beautiful..._

Before the two idol's lips could meet, Reiji pushed on Ranmaru's shoulders, snapping the younger-male out of his daze and causing him to pull back.

"...We need to get back to Myu-chan...but...since I'm here...What did you need?" Reiji asked, wanting to know what Ranmaru had wanted to begin with, but also wanting to get his mind off of Ai.

"Oh...that..." Ranmaru had almost forgotten the real reason he had wanted Reiji here. "About Saiko-"

Reiji let his eyebrows furrow together when Ranmaru broke out into an explanation about the blonde and red-haired drummer, doing his best to summarize his past with him and the reason as to why he wants Reiji to stay away from him.

"That doesn't sound like the Saiko I know..." He said once Ranmaru had finished explaining.

"Well...It is. I'd never mistake someone else for that son-of-a-bitch." Ranmaru hissed before he blinked. "Wait a sec'...you haven't yelled or sworn at me today."

"E-eh?" Reiji stiffened, realizing his typical attitude was showing. "I have too you asshole, what are ya', calling me soft?"

Ranmaru felt a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips. "That's the Reiji I'm falling for."

...

_"What?" _The silver-head's chest was pushed on and Reiji stood up, stepping away from him.

"Ah?" Ranmaru frowned, standing up himself. "What?"

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Reiji asked defensively. "Oh yeah, I guess that was a bit sudden since I hadn't told you yet..." Ranmaru stepped closer to the brunette, reaching up to let his fingers play with the curled-ends of his hair. "Reiji...I think I'm falling in love with you..."

Silver-eyes went wide. "...What-...What makes you say that?"

"It's just..." Ranmaru hesitated. "Every since I saw you performing on that talk-show the other day...I haven't been able to stop thinking about you and how much I want to make you mine...You're such a-...ah, bad-ass now if I may say, and it's making me attracted to you...not to mention it's started making me realized how incredibly good-looking you are."

Reiji was taken a back. "You mean...you started falling for me, when you saw how much I had changed...?"

Ranmaru blinked before he grinned a bit more and gave a small nod.

_He...he doesn't love me...He's falling for that horrible persona I've put up for show..._

Almost abruptly, Ranmaru's hand was slapped away.

"Reiji?" He looked down at Reiji in surprise, who looked away from him. "We should get back to Myu-chan now..." He said, turning away from the silver head to reach into his pocket and take out his phone.

_I can't believe this..._He thought with a sigh, dialing the blonde's number before pressing his phone to his ear and waiting for him to pick up.

He nearly groaned when all he heard was the blonde's voice mail.

"I hope Ai-ai's creator got to him..." Reiji whispered with a sigh, cradling his phone to his chest, praying Camus called him back.

_Please tell me Ai-ai can be fixed..._

* * *

"Can you fix him?"

Camus' own brain was so preoccupied with the current problem at hand that he didn't even register his phone had vibrated in his back pocket.

A sleeping Tris was held tightly in his arms, for the small child had eventually cried herself out and fell asleep in his arms.

"I don't know...I've never had to fix Ai-kun after such a severe accident before..."

The male who spoke must've been around Camus' age, with blackish-brown hair and thick square glasses that hid his eyes. He wore casual-clothing, except for the long white scientist's coat that covered his arms and backside.  
In front of the creator was a table, much like the one's in the operating room's at hospitals; Ai's discombobulated limbs were scattered around said table, his head being the thing mostly intact, with different coloured wires sticking out from the torn part of his neck. Patches of skin on his cheeks were torn, showing the metal beneath them, and his bright-blue hair was tangled and matted with gravel, his eyes shut.

"...Please try your best." Camus quietly said, holding Tris closer as he leaned against the door.

He had followed the scientist back to his lab, which had luckily been only a few blocks away from where the accident had occurred.

"...I will. I love Ai-kun like a son, so I would never intentionally let him die." The creator said, turning to offer the Count a small smile before he focused once again and set to work.

Letting out a sigh, Camus turned and opened the door, slipping out of the room and out into the white hallway. After closing the door back behind himself, he made sure Tris was held securely in his right arm before slipping his left hand into his pants pocket to pull out his phone.

"Oh shoot, Reiji called me..." He said once he saw the missed call from the brunette, hurrying to call him back.

_"Myu-chan! Myu-chan! Thank goodness...How is everything?" _Reiji asked in a frantic, obviously worried tone once he had picked up.  
"I got Ai to his creator...but he says he doesn't know if he can fix him." Camus explained with a sigh.

_"Ah...we should try and have faith in Tsubase-sama...if he can create Ai-ai to begin with, he can surely put him back together."_ Reiji said, though he was obviously having a mental panic attack himself.

"Yeah..." Camus leaned against the door once again, looking up at the ceiling. "Did you get to Ranmaru?"

_"Oh, yeah...He knows. Everything's cool."_

"It doesn't sound that way to me."

_"Myu-chan, Ai-ai was hit by a truck because of me, do you honestly think I'll sound okay for a while?"_

The blonde went quiet for a few moments after that.

_"Myu-chan?"_

"Sorry, I'm still here; question though, did you fall into the road...?"

_"Er...I think so...but I can't remember too well...I think I might've been pushed though..."_

Camus furrowed his eyebrows together. "I think you were pushed...I remember seeing someone behind you."

_"Eh? Really? I didn't see anyone when I turned to leave..."_

"..."

_"Myu-chan?"_

"Reiji, give the phone to Ranmaru."

Reiji blinked upon being asked that before he turned and held his phone out to Ranmaru. "Here. Myu-chan wants to talk to you." He said, Ranmaru frowning a bit as he reached out to take the phone and press the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?"

_"Ranmaru, do you know a young boy with blonde and red hair?"_

Ranmaru's face darkened. "What about him?"

_"He pushed Reiji into the street."_

His eyes went wide. "What? How the hell do you know that?"

_"I saw him...I don't know what his place in your life is, but I_ do_ know that one of our band members has been crushed to pieces because of him."_

Ranmaru tightened his grip on the phone. "That bastard-..."

"You can worry about him later; I'm on the next street down in that small white building, get over here."

Ranmaru resisted the urge to hiss before he ground out a small, 'Yeah, yeah, we're coming' before snapping Reiji's phone shut and handing it back over to him.

"What did he say?" Reiji asked, sliding his phone back into his pocket as Ranmaru turned to start stomping away from the lake, the brunette having to sprint to follow after him.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

_I swear to god I will strangle that brat for this._

**And thus brings an end to this chapter But don't worry, the next one is already done, so you don't have to wait for it. ^^**

**Reviews are welcomed~. :3**


	9. Chapter 8

**Yup! I already have the next chapter up! Hope you guys enjoy!**

**I do not own Uta No Prince-Sama.**

"Myu-chan!"

Ice-blue eyes looked up when the familiar voice called out to him; he was sitting up against the wall next to the door of the lab room, Tris-who had woken up-sitting in his lap, playing with his fingers.

"Ah, there you guys are." He said, Reiji and Ranmaru walking their way over to him. "How's Ai-ai...? Is Tsubase-sama making any progress?" Reiji asked, kneeling down to pick Tris up before standing back up straight, cradling the blonde in his arms.

"I have no idea." Camus sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.

"I hope so..." Reiji whispered, Camus giving a small nod. "As do I." He agreed, Ranmaru folding his arms over his chest but also agreeing. "Same here."

"Ne, ne, Weiji?"

Reiji's attention was pulled down to Tris, who soon spoke to him. "Yes?"

"You' fwiend be okay?"

Reiji blinked, a small smile coming to his lips as he let one hand gently ruffle Tris' hair. "Hopefully." He said, the little girl smiling a bit before nodding and clinging to him. "Twis is happy Weiji has no boo-boos." She said, nuzzling the brunette's chest.

"A-ah? Rei-chan...is glad too..." Reiji softly said, smiling a bit more and holding Tris tighter.

"Umm, sorry to interrupt-..."

All eyes drifted over to the now opened door, where Tsubase was standing.

"Tsubase-sama!"

The glasses-wearing male smiled and gave a small nod to Reiji. "It's great to finally get to see you again, Kotobuki-san."

"How's Ai-ai?" Reiji asked, his previous smile slowly turning into a frown.

"Ahh..." Tsubase let out a sad-sounding sigh, pulling his glasses from his face to hold them in a his hands, revealing his dazzling bright green eyes.

The male looked and talked rather geek-like, but when he took his large glasses off, he suddenly looked younger then he actually was, and to put it simply...he was handsome.  
It was just too bad the only reason he ever removed his glasses was when he was completely serious.

"I don't know how to put this..." The look on his face was soft, but his eyes held a large amount of sadness in them.

"I...can't fix Ai-kun..."

Camus, Ranmaru, and Reiji's eyes all went wide. "What?" They all breathed in unison.

"All of the wiring in his head has been ripped apart...It's impossible to fix, unless of course, I can take all of it out and replace it...but his memory chip is basically falling apart, and as you know, I can replace it with a new one-...but every memory Ai-kun has made with you all will be no longer. He will be an emotionless, lonely A.I. again...and I don't want to see him so blank again." Tsubase explained, everyone going quiet.

Reiji had put one hand over his mouth, his eyes watering.

Camus had closed his eyes and looked down at his lap, refusing to let his eyes water, and Ranmaru had looked away, his eyes also tightly shut.

"But...I have managed to connect the wires in his neck back to his chest and heart, so he is working at the moment...but barely, and I don't know for how long, his data-chip and power-source are slowly breaking apart more and more..."

"...Can we see him...?" Reiji softly asked, holding Tris tighter and willing himself to keep his tears at bay.

Tsubase gave a small nod and slid out of the way, Reiji walking his way through the doorway, followed by Ranmaru and Camus, who must've gotten himself off the floor.

"A-...Ai-ai...?"  
Reiji's voice softly called, his eyes latching onto the multiple different limbs scattered around the table as he and his other two band member's made their way over to the table their friend was laid out on; Reiji had noticed both of Ai's arms, hands, legs, and feet, wires sticking out of every single body part.

As Tsubase had said, his head and neck were attached to his chest and torso once again, but those were the only two things connected.  
The bluenette's eyes were opened but half lidded, showing off his dimmed, ice-blue iris'.

"G-...uys..." The fifteen-year old droid's voice was cracky and metallic, but he was still understandable.

"Ai-ai...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Reiji's voice shook, the tears he had been trying to keep at bay sliding down his cheeks. "This is all my fault...I'm sorry...I'm so, _so _sorry...I don't want to lose you...I never should've left..." Without being able to stop it, a retched sob left the his lips, trembling as he clung to the small child in his arms. "Please don't leave me...I'll teach you anything you want to know, I-I promise...Just don't leave me...You're one of my best friend's...I love you like the brother I never got as a kid..."

"Re-..iji..."

_He had never called him by his first name before, this was the first time he had._

"It-...'s...not you-...r f-fau...lt...I wa-ant-...ed t-to...s-...a-a-...ave you..." The broken-droid miraculously got out, only causing Reiji's flow of tears to grow heavier.

His half-lidded eyes drifted up to look at Ranmaru and Camus. "Y-y-...ou...guy-...s..a-are...m-...y...be-...e-es t f-...fri-...ends...too..."

"Ai..." Tears had begun to build up in both the silver-head, and the blonde's eyes.

"I-...l-l-...l-lo-...ve...y-you g-g-...g-...uys..." The bluenette's voice got softer and eventually drifted off, his half-lidded eyes gradually falling until they shut, never to re-open again.

"Ai-ai...no..." Reiji sank to his knees, breaking out into sobs, the small child in his arms holding onto him in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Ranmaru put his hand over his mouth, the tears building up in his own eyes beginning to slide down his cheeks and drip off his chin.

"Ai..."

"Guys, I know I can't really do much more-" Tsubase spoke from behind them once again. "-...but, for your sake, I took the liberty of calling up a few of your friends that Ai-kun told me you all grew really close to quite some time ago..."

The three remaining members of Quartet Night all turned towards the doorway, being met with the most unexpected surprise ever.

Sparkly red eyes and bright red-hair was able to be seen through Reiji's tear-filled eyes, and directly next to the red-head was an all too familiar blue-haired male, who had a soft look on his face that was uncharacteristic for him.

"Otoyan...Toki..."

The red-head kneeled down, his arms opening.

"We're here for you Rei-chan..." He said with the smallest of smiles, Reiji having to set Tris down before diving into Otoya's opened arms, sobbing into his chest and clinging to the back of his shirt.  
Otoya eased down onto the floor all the way, letting the brunette rest in between his legs like he had done to Ranmaru earlier. "We'll help you get through this..." Tokiya's voice said in a gentle tone as he kneeled down behind Reiji, his arms sliding around the older-male from behind so he could embrace him as well, Otoya doing the same.

Next to the where the two teen's had been standing was a ginger with sky-blue eyes and a short haired bluenette with midnight blue orbs.  
"Kurosaki..." Something similar to a sigh left Ren's lips before he walked over to Ranmaru, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him against him, not caring that he was taller. "We're sorry..." Masato said, sliding behind the silver-head so he could embrace him from behind like Tokiya had done to Reiji, Ranmaru slowly blinking before he squeezed his eyes shut, clinging to the ginger in front of him and burying his face in his orange hair, letting out a choked sob.

"Camus."  
A tanned hand reached out to gently stroke Camus' cheek, blue-ish green eyes staring into his own. "I'm here for you." Cecil softly said, letting his hand resting on the Count's cheek slide to card through his luscious blonde hair so he could pull him closer, his other arm sliding around him so he could tightly hold him.  
"You don't have to be strong right now...I'm here."  
The blonde lost it after that, embracing the younger-Prince tighter as tears fell from his own closed-eyes and slid down his pale cheeks. "C-Cecil..."

"Shh, it's alright, I won't leave. I promise, Camus."

Standing at the back of the room where two blonde's, one with green eyes, and one with blue. The green eyed, more curly haired blonde had his arms wrapped around the more pale-haired blonde, whose back was to his chest.  
Tears stained both the male's cheeks, but they couldn't do much since their Senior...was gone.

All Natsuki and Syo could do was comfort each other as the rest of Ai's band cried their hearts out, holding and clinging to their Kouhai's like they had never done before.

**Ahh, I will be honest, I came close to crying multiple times while writing this one, I won't lie. ;w; But I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to update soon.**

**Reviews are welcome~. :3**


	10. Chapter 9

**Guys, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this updated! Things are kinda' rough where I am, not to mention school just started back and I've had to keep focused considering I'm a freshman-...**

**But do not fret, I finally got this next chapter written~. :D And I won't disappear like that ever again! I promise!**

**I do not own UtaPri.**

"I can't believe this happened..."

Each member of STARISH was sitting up against the wall of the lab.

Reiji was resting in Otoya's lap, his face buried in his neck and his eyes closed. Soft, even breaths passed his lips, indicating that he was sleeping.  
Tokiya was sitting on the red-head and the brunette's left side, his head leaning back against the wall.

Camus was laying flat across the floor, his head in Cecil's lap and his arms wrapped around the prince's waist; he too was asleep, his pale lips opening and shutting in deep breaths.

Ranmaru was sitting up against the wall in between Ren and Masato, his head resting on the bluenette's shoulder as he too slept, all of that crying he-and the rest of Quartet Night-had done a while before draining him of his energy.

"I know." Syo said from his place in Natsuki's lap, said older-blonde humming in agreement, his chin on his roommate's shoulder.

"I wonder how all of this happened..." Otoya wondered aloud, seeming to speak everyone else's minds. "I mean...it doesn't make any sense. Ai-senpai isn't the type to just wander into the road..."

"I think-..."

Everyone looked over at Cecil, who had started biting down on his lower lip. "-...I remember Tsubase-san saying something about Ai-senpai getting hit to save Kotobuki..."

Tokiya furrowed his eyebrows together. "But, that still doesn't make any sense...Kotobuki-san isn't the type to just wander into the street either."

"No, I don't think that's what he meant." Cecil shook his head. "I think he was implying that Kotobuki hadn't fallen into the street, but had been pushed."

"What? No way." Ren let his arms slide over his chest, a frown on his normally smirk-covered lips. "Who would want to shove the little brunette into on-coming traffic? That's horrible."

Masato offered a small nod in agreement. "It is, and Kotobuki-kun is much too compassionate and caring to deserve something like that. So this is a troubling thought..."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It doesn't make any sense for someone to push _Reiji _of all people into the street..." Syo grumbled, leaning back in Natsuki's hold.

"Do you think this all could be...s_abotage?" _

Everyone looked over at Tokiya, who had spoken, his deep blue eyes focused on the floor. "I mean...what if someone had pushed Rei-chan-" The blunette had become so close to his Senpai during their time at the Master's Course that he had eventually accepted the nickname Reiji had wanted for himself. "-into the road because they _knew _someone would come to his rescue?"

"Well who would do such a thing?!" Natsuki couldn't help but cry, a mixture of surprise and worry seeping into his voice. "I...don't know. I really don't."

Tokiya let out a sigh, letting his eyes fall shut as silence soon filled the room, the same thought running through each of the STARISH members minds.

_Who?_

**~(OwO)~(OwO)~(OwO)~**

Smalls hums filled a relatively quiet room, the only sound other then the quiet tune being the sound of a marker gliding over a white slate.

"It's too bad the first one was just too easy...I hope the next two will be more of a-...ah, _challenge._" Saiko let out this manical, crazed sounding laugh, recapping the black expo-marker in his hands.

On the table in front of him was a white board, where the blonde had three names written in red: _Ai Mikaze__, Camus, Ranmaru Kurosaki.  
_Though, through Ai's name was a thick black line.

"Onto the next one~!"

**~(OwO)~(OwO)~(OwO)~**

"Mmn...Otoyan...?"

Silver-eyes slowly opened, the bright, mercury-coloured orbs blinking to adjust to the low amount of light.

_Where are we?_

Slowly sitting up, Reiji let out a loud yawn, surveying his surroundings.

He was back in his apartment, sitting on the bed in his room. When he looked at his side, he saw Ranmaru was laying down next to him, his silver-hair sprawled out around his head.

Blinking, Reiji looked around once again, seeing Camus sprawled out on the floor next to his bed.

_How did we get here?_

"Otoyan? Toki?" Reiji called out once again, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. _Where were his Kouhais? They were with him before he fell asleep.  
_Pushing the blanket off himself, Reiji moved to stand up, only to stop short when a piece of white lined-paper caught his attention.

"What the..." Reiji reached out to lift the blanket up a bit more so he could pull the piece of paper out from under the comforter, unfolding it so he could read it.

_Rei-chan!  
Everyone went out for a little while, but don't worry, we won't be gone for too long! We'll be back soon. c:_

_Stay safe! -Otoya_

Reiji slowly blinked, a smile working it's way onto his lips. He closed up the paper once again and reached out to set it down on his nightstand.

"Mhn...Reiji...?"

The brunette's attention was pulled down when a deep voice spoke to him, the silver-head that was once sleeping next to him stirring awake, now on his side, facing his fellow band member.

"Oh, sorry Ran-ran, did I wake you? Sorry." Reiji spoke softly, those bright purple and silver-eyes he had always found to be so attractive fluttering open, Ranmaru looking up at him.

"...You haven't really changed...have you?"

Silver-eyes widened before Reiji chuckled a bit, reaching down to rest his hand on Ranmaru's head, sliding his down so it was resting on his cheek. "No, I haven't. Not at all."

"Mm...that's what I thought..." Ranmaru leaned his head towards the brunette's hand, pushing himself so he was sitting up a bit more, his own hand coming up to press over Reiji's.

"Ah...? Ran-ran that doesn't make any sense. You fell in love with my stage persona. There's no way you could've known." Reiji quietly said, not moving his hand from where it was.

"Of course I knew...Do you really think I would fall in love with the kind of person you were acting as? C'mon, no. Just because I'm an ass doesn't mean I'm going to fall for one."

"But you said-"

"Reiji, It was an_ excuse_. An excuse to put off saying that I was really just in love with you."

Ranmaru had realized, after all of this, that taking time for granted wasn't something he could do anymore. If Ai had alive and working, and then _gone _from this world only a few seconds later, god knows what could happen down the road to them.

"Ran-ran I-..." Reiji bit his lip, about to slide his hand away from Ranmaru's face, only to feel the silver-head's fingers lace with his, keeping it pressed to his cheek.

"Reiji, _I want you._"

Reiji's eyes widened once again, a pair of fingers grasping his chin. Ranmaru had sat up all the way, pulling Reiji's chin up with him so he was looking at him.

His heterochromatic eyes were half lidded, the multi-coloured orbs glowing in the low amount of light. He slowly let his fingers slide from Reiji's, that hand moving to slide around the brunette's waist. "Ran-ran-"  
Reiji was cut off when he was suddenly tugged forward, Ranmaru's lips pressing into his own, the fingers cupping his chin tilting his head up a bit more.

Reiji was frozen for a few moments, but it wasn't too long before he had practically melted into the kiss, his hand-which had still been on Ranmaru's cheek-moving back to slide into that soft silver hair he had always wanted to touch.

_He wanted this._

Reiji let his other arm slide around Ranmaru's neck, the fingers of that hand grasping the back of his neck to pull him even closer, his lips moving against his almost frantically.  
He could feel the hand on his waist tighten it's grip on him, Ranmaru's other hand so sliding from his chin so he could have both of his arms around him.

Before the two even get their thoughts sorted out, their tongues were wrapping around one another's, Ranmaru pushing Reiji down so his back was pressed into the bed.

After a few moments, they were forced to break apart, the two male's gasping for air before their lips met again in another needy, heated kiss.

Ranmaru's hands drifted their way up to slide beneath Reiji's shirt, quickly pushing the fabric up to expose the smaller teen's torso.

In need of air once again, the silver-head pried his lips from Reiji's, a thin string of saliva connecting their tongues. Without waiting, his leaned down to latch his lips onto the brunette's neck, his tongue sliding over the soft skin and his teeth nipping at it.

Letting his fingers slide up to Reiji's chest, Ranmaru didn't hesitate to let his fingers dance over his steadily-hardening nipples, taking both of the hard buds between his fingers to give them both light tweaks.

"A-ah-!"

Reiji couldn't help the moan that pulled itself from his throat, his legs pressing together. He could feel his body heating up at an almost incredibly fast rate, the same going for Ranmaru, who was finding it harder and harder to control himself with the way Reiji was reacting to his simple touches.

"Reiji..." Ranmaru just about growled against Reiji's throat in a surprisingly possessive way, his teeth sinking into the skin in a bite that would surely leave a mark, his tongue lapping at said mark moments later.

"D-don't touch there...!" Reiji let out this needy sound Ranmaru couldn't help but find incredibly erotic, the noise sending blood rushing down south. "I-I'm sensitive there..."

Resisting the urge to groan, Ranmaru let his fingers pull at the brunette's nipples once again, his hips pressing down into his so he could grind down against him.

"O-oh_ god!_ R-Ran-ran!"

"Mnnh...guys...?"

Reiji and Ranmaru both froze at the sound of the deep, but recognizable voice.

_Oh hell, they both forgot about Camus._

Hurrying to get away from the other, Reiji pushed Ranmaru away so the silver-head went tumbling onto the floor.

He hurried to pull his shirt back down and he willed his body to cool, one of his hands pressing to his heated cheek, which had become a bright pink.

"Oi...that was unnecessary..." Ranmaru could be heard groaning from the floor.

"Kurosaki, why are you on the floor?"

"Shut it, Camus." Ranmaru grumbled, Reiji not being able to help but let out a light laugh, happy that he was able to mask his previous fluster.

"Guys, you're _both _on the floor; get up." He said, slinging his legs over the side of his bed.

Camus sighed, but soon pushed himself off the floor so he could stand up, his pale blonde hair tangled from the way he had slept. "So what happened to STARISH...?" He asked, obviously oblivious to what had been going on in the room minutes before.

"They went out for a little while." Reiji said, scooting back on the bed so both Camus and Ranmaru had room to sit down.

"Where'd they go?" Ranmaru asked, pulling himself off the floor to ease back down onto the bed on Reiji's right side, Camus sitting down on his left. "I dunno...Otoyan didn't say."

"He told you?"

"Well, kinda'...he left me a note." Reiji said, putting his hands in his lap. "Ah...well I'm glad they came here." Camus admitted in a quiet voice, small little hums of agreement coming from Reiji and Ranmaru.

"...When will they be back?"

"I dunno'..."

Silence followed the small conversation up until Reiji whispered, "I hope it's soon..."

Since Ai was no longer with them, the three of them all felt as if giant chucks of their hearts were gone, and they knew only having each other wasn't going to be enough to fill the void...they needed their Kouhais as well.

**Aww, the seniors are already missing their Kouhais.**

**Ahh, and I hope that RanRei scene was enough of a make-up for disappearing on you guys! :D**

**Reviews are welcomed~. :3**


	11. Chapter 10

**Alright guys, I have something important to say; I promise you all, I haven't abandoned this story or any of my other ones. I swear, I haven't. **

**I know I promised you guys I wouldn't disappear on you again, and I feel absolutely **_**terrible **_**knowing I broke that promise, please forgive me. c:  
**

**Things where I am are just starting to smooth out. My mom has been hurt and has been having to stay home, not being able to drive me, my older-sister, or little-brother anywhere. In actuallity, my grandmother has been having to do a lot for us, including bringing us things, paying for our bills until my mom heals and can get back to work, ect ect.**

**Along with that, as I mentioned in the chapter before, I'm a Freshman, and I have a wacked-up schedule. Even though I only have one academic course this semester, the classes I **_**am **_**in at the moment have been requiring I do a **_**ton **_**of work, the most difficult being AP Human Geography, and JROTC, which has been wearing me out since it involves so much physical activity.**

**Well shit, -Excuse my French!- I'm beginning to babble; the point is, I'm terribly sorry! And, I mean it this time when I say, I'M BACK FOR GOOD~! :D I swear to you guys, I am.**

**Oh, yes, and if you're wondering why I decided to update **_**this **_**story instead of my other fic "Just Another Cinderella Story", I chose this one to go ahead and update on so I could tell you guys what had happened. -AKA, this is my most popular fic-  
**

**Anyway, finally, onto the update! :3**

**I do not own UtaPri.**

"C'mon Tokiya! Hurry!"

"I'm coming...I'm coming...slow down, you don't have to pull me."

Otoya had his fingers wrapped around his roommate's wrist-yes, believe it or not, despite the fact that they had graduated, they had chosen to continue living together, part of the reason being because Otoya was basically an orphan- and he was dragging him off down the carpeted-hallway of an apartment building complex. They passed multiple doors, all labeled with different numbers.

**-10**

**-11**

**-12**

**-13**

"-Aha! Thirteen! There it is!"

The red-head finally released his blue-haired friend once they had stopped in front of the door marked **13**. "Now, how do you propose we get in?" Tokiya asked with a small sigh, putting both of his hands on his sides and looking over at his red-headed roommate with an eyebrow raised.

"We open the door of course!" Otoya responded with an incredibly sweet smile, making his roommate sputter a bit.

So _maybe _the blunette had started to fall for the red-head after all this time. _Maybe_ he wanted him to be his own, but refused to speak up about it in fear of ruining their current friendship.

_Maybe _being the key word there.

"And how do you suppose we do that? Otoya, the door is-..." Tokiya drifted off as he watched Otoya slowly slide down to his knees, pulling a hair-pin from his pocket. Pushing one end of the metal into the small slit for the room-key scanner, Otoya slid and jiggled it around until a small click could be heard.

"Like that!"

Grinning widely, the red-head stood back up, slipping the hair-pin back into his pocket and turning around, blinking at the stunned look he was receiving from his roommate. "Eh?" He tilted his head. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Tokiya coughed a little, averting his eyes. "It's...It's nothing; where did you learn to do that?"

"Rei-chan showed me how!"

Tokiya choked a little. "What?! Why?! When was I when he taught you this?!"

Otoya laced his fingers behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels. "It's a secret~!" He hummed. "Now come on! Let's go in!"

**~(OwO)~(OwO)~(OwO)~**

"Uwahhh! No way! I can't believe Rei-chan lives here! It's so...fancy!" Otoya had his arms spread out and was spinning in the middle of his brown-haired friend's apartment, his head tilted back so he could stare up at the sparkly chandelier hanging high in the air.

"Yeah...I'm surprised he got the money to pay for all of this." Tokiya mused, slowly striding his way across the living room, his footsteps making a small 'thump'ing noise against the marble flooring. "His new company must be pretty wealthy..."

"Yeah, even richer then ours!" Otoya said, only coming to a stop when he realized he was getting dizzy, having to keep his arms out to steady himself. "Woah...dizzy-"

"Well then don't spin like that and you wont get dizzy." Tokiya couldn't help but grumble before sighing, "We're here on a mission Otoya, we need to find Rei-chan's-"

"Ooh, what's that~?!"

Interrupting his stiff roommate, Otoya went sliding across the floor over to the entertainment center, where he then picked up a picture frame from beside the T.V. "Ne, Tokiya! Tokiya! Come here."

"Otoya-"

_"Come onnnnnnn!" _

Letting out a sigh of defeat, Tokiya strode his way over to his friend, looking over his shoulder at the picture he had in his hands. "What is it?"

It was a picture of Reiji of this blonde-haired man the two singer's had never seen before. Based on how the camera was being held, Reiji must've been the one taking the picture at the time, his free-arm wrapped around the blonde's shoulder.  
They both were grinning like total idiots, but the simple gesture showed that the two were incredibly comfortable around the other and must've been pretty good friends.

"Who's that?" Tokiya asked, his eyebrows furrowed together as he stared at the picture, wondering who that man was. "I...I dunno..." Otoya sounded just as confused as his roommate. "I've never seen him before in my entire life..."

"Do you think he's one of Rei-chan's old friends?"

"I...I don't know, Otoya."

"What about his boyfriend? Do ya' think he's his boyfriend?"

"Otoya, _I don't know." _Letting out a sigh, Tokiya reached around his red-headed friend to take the picture from him, setting it back down where it had previously been.

"Come on, let's just go check upstairs for his phone."

**~(OwO)~(OwO)~(OwO)~**

"No Camus, I'm not with everyone else, that's the third time I've said this to you."

...

"Yes, I got dinner for you guys."

...

"I don't even know what that is."

...

"Camus, Camus, it's pizza." Cecil chuckled a little. He was currently walking his way down the street, his phone-which was pressed up again his ear-held in one hand, and a brown pizza box in his other.

_"That greasy non-swallowable peasant food American's consider 'edible?' I think not."_

"Well~. It's either that or you starve~."

The tanned-Prince had been the odd one out of STARISH. Instead of going out with the rest of the guys to start their new 'mission', he had instead gone out to get the three remaining members of Quartet Night a simple dinner.

_"Ooh, ooh! Pizza! Yay pizza! I hope it's pepperoni!"_

_"I hope it comes with duck-tape so you'll shut the hell up."_

_"Ran-ran you know you love me~! You can't be a hater of Reiji Kotobuki!"_

Cecil blinked at the sound of Reiji and Ranmaru in the background, stifling a small laugh by lightly biting his lower lip. "Ah, you three...I swear, I sometimes wonder how you all aren't actually siblings."

"Excuse you, but no, we could never be related. I'm much too mature and noble to be in the same family as these plebeians." Camus huffed to mainly himself, not caring too much about the cry of distress his brown-haired band member let out at being so offended.

He was sitting up on the brunette's bed, said twenty-five year old and Ranmaru down on the floor, playing-more like arguing over-a silver-laptop of some sort.

_"Now come on Camus, don't you think that was a little mean?"_

"I think the fact that you thought to get us such terrible food to dine on is what's harsh."

The blonde could hear a small chuckle of amusement come from the other end, grumbling something under his breath moments later. "Just hurry up...I'm actually fairly hungry."

_"Yeah yeah, I'm hurrying. Be patien-"_

The younger-male seemed to have cut himself off for a second, causing Camus' light, ice-blue eyes to slowly blink. "Aijima? You still there?"

_"Eh? Yes! Sorry. I just had this strange feeling I was being followed..."_

Camus felt a frown tug at the corner of his lips. "What do you mean?"

_"I don't know how to explain the feeling...I just thought-"_

The tanned-teen was abruptly cut off, and based on the loud cracking noise that rang throughout Camus right-ear seconds later, he must've dropped his phone. "Oi, Aijima-"

_"H-hey! Let me go!"_

_"Not a chance, little man. Just relax, I won't kill ya', I promise."_

_"O-ow! Y-You're hurting me-!"_

_"Keep your mouth shut and maybe I won't."_

"Ai-...jima...?" Camus had gone stiff, his eyes wide.

_"Ca-!"_

_"Scream for help and I'll slit your throat. Just be a good boy and stay quiet."_

A sigh reached the blonde's ears before he could hear the phone being picked up once again, that cold sadistic voice he had been hearing for quite a while now speaking directly too him.

_"Meet at the top of building one-oh-seven tonight at one or this pretty prince becomes deceased."_

And then the line went dead.

**~(OwO)~(OwO)~(OwO)~**

"L-Let me go gosh-darnit!"

"Aww, how cute, you're actually putting up a fight."

Saiko let out a dark sounding laugh, gripping Cecil's steadily-bruising wrists tighter as he brought his foot down and stomped on the Prince's phone, completely and utterly crushing it.

_Oh he was gonna' have a lot of fun with this one._

**Ah, was that long enough? Was it okay? I was really rushing with it if you couldn't tell, I was really trying to get it updated by tonight. ;u;**

**Oh, and yes, that laptop of Ranmaru and Reiji's _is _Ai's laptop if you didn't know.**

**Reviews are welcomed~. :3**


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